A historic win! Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay at the 2018 Oscars for Get Out and made history as the first African American man take home that Academy Award.
“Thank you, you guys are gonna mess up my Jet Skit hold up,” Peele, 39, began in his acceptance speech at the 90th annual awards. on Sunday, March 4, referencing host Jimmy Kimmel’s joke earlier in the broadcast that the shortest acceptance speech wins a recreational watercraft.
“This means so much to me. I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible,” continued Peele, who was also nominated for directing the film. “I thought it wasn’t gonna work, I thought no one would ever make this movie, but I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, then people would hear it and people would see it.”
The comedian beat out Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water, Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani for The Big Sick and Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
“To the cast and crew, I love you, thank you so much,” Peele added. “My wife, who supported me through this whole process. My mother, who taught me to love even in the face of hate. And to everybody who went and saw this movie. Everybody who bought a ticket, told somebody to buy a ticket, thank you. I love you for shouting out at the theater, for shouting out at the screen. I love all, thank you so much goodnight.”
Peele lost Best Director to del Toro.
