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The Latinx and Hispanic community rejoice as Ariana DeBose becomes an Oscar winner! The singer and actor won in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg ’s West Side Story .
After winning, the Puerto Rican descent actress makes history as the first Afro-Latina with an Academy Award and the second Latina to ever receive the Oscar statuette.
Ariana’s triumph comes 60 years after fellow Puerto Rican actress the legendary Rita Moreno also won the award in the same category for the same movie and same role. In 1962 Rita became the first Hispanic woman ever to receive the recognition.
“You know what? Now you see why Anita says ‘I want to be in America,’ because even in this weird world that we live in, dream do come true and that’s really a heartening thing right now,” said DeBose while accepting her Academy Award. “If I took the time to say thank you to every single beautiful person who has lifted me up on this stage, we would be sitting here until the next Oscars,” she jokes.
“So I’m not going to do that. But just allow me to say that it was the summer of a lifetime, and I am the most privileged and grateful to have spent it with all of you. Oh, my God. Thank you, Steven Spielberg. You’re stuck with me now. Yay! Thank you to the divine inspiration who is Rita Moreno. I’m grateful your Anita paved the away for tons of Anita’s like me, and I love you so much.”
“ I’m gonna wrap this up and talk about my family. My mother who’s here tonight I love you with my whole heart because it’s not yours is mine. My some of my tribesmen, my family, my love to Jonathan, Diana, Anthony Calamita. I couldn’t do what I do without each and every one of you,” she added. “So, lastly, imagine this little girl in the backseat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes, you see, an openly queer woman of color and Afro Latina, who found her strength in life through arts and that’s what I believe we’re here to celebrate.”
The proud queer Afro-Latina also won in the best supporting actress category at the 2022 Critics Choice Awards. “Wow, this is wild. I wrote some things down, and yet my phone is over there. That’s unfortunate,” she joked during her acceptance speech. The 31-year-old actress honored Rita Moreno, also nominated, for bringing Anita to life in the original 1961 film.
“To my fellow nominees: You are all so stinking glorious, and I love you so much. You inspire me, and especially one fellow nominee, the great Rita Moreno,” DeBose said. “Seriously, you made space for me to thrive beside you — I am not in front of you, I am not behind you, I am beside you. And that is the greatest gift you could’ve ever given me.”
DeBose Academy Awards win comes after taking home the 2022 SAG Awards, Critics Choice Award and 2022 BAFTA Awards for the same performance in the same category.
If you would like to see DeBose in action, you can stream the critically acclaimed take on the musical on Disney+. The movie, which debuted on Disney’s streaming service on March 2, is also available to stream on HBO Max.
The award-winning film starring Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (María), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo), Mike Faist (Riff) and Rita Moreno was released in theaters back in December 2021.