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Paul Tazewell made history today when he became the first black man to win an Oscar for best costume design for his work on Wicked.
Tazewell came out on top against nominees Arianne Phillips for A Complete Unknown, Linda Muir for Nosferatu, Lisy Christl for Conclave, and Janty Yates and David Crossman for Gladiator II. He also boasts a Tony, an Emmy, a BAFTA, and several Costume Designer Guild awards, among others.
News of the same broke out on X almost instantly, and scores online are celebrating the big win. Check out what one user said, for instance:
"This is so freaking epic!!!"
The masses online echoed the sentiments, as one after the other, users joined the ongoing discourse with their own words of encouragement:
"Congrats! The costumes were great in the film! Well deserved!" one user exclaimed.
"Should have been Nosferatu," another opined.
"As it should. The school outfits, the monkeys etc, even the princes outfits were perfect so I get it," someone else chimed in.
"Not surprised they cooked," an X user noted.
Notably, a large chunk of users felt like the award should have gone for Nosferatu instead:
"Should’ve been Nosferatu," one user claimed.
"That's amazing! 'WICKED' definitely deserves it," someone else contended.
"Well deserved, and this is coming from someone who didn't care for wicked," yet another user penned.
"Over nosferatu??? This is crazy," one fan chimed in.
Some on the internet were visibly upset over the news, claiming that some of the good films hadn't even been recognized for the category.
Paul Tazewell makes headlines as the first black man to win an Oscar for costume design: Read more
In recent times, Paul Tazewell also made headlines for being named of Variety’s 10 artisans to watch in costume design and was also awarded the Variety Artisan Award in costume design at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
As reported by the outlet, Paul Tazewell is now the second Black person to win the award, as Ruth E. Carter was the first to do so for her work on Black Panther. A few years later, she won again for her work on the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Sharen Davis is the only other person to have ever been nominated in this category, earning acclaim for her work in Ray and Dreamgirls.
In his speech, he reflected on his historic win:
“I’m the first black man to receive the costume design award…I’m so proud of this," he said.
He then thanked the UK team for their “beautiful work," before thanking Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo:
“My Ozian muses, Cynthia and Ariana, I love you so much.”
Paul Tazewell need only bag a Grammy award next to attain the EGOT status. The veteran was previously nominated for an Oscar for his work on the remake of West Side Story.
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