Ariana DeBose is the first Afro-Latina, and openly queer woman to win an Oscar and a SAG Award in the best supporting actress category for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
The 31-year-old actress is also the second Latina to win an Academy Award after Rita Moreno won an Oscar for playing the same role 60 years ago.
“Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus,” she said on March 27 during her acceptance speech. “Look into her eyes, you see an openly queer woman of color, an Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through art, and that’s what I believe we’re here to celebrate.”
“So to anyone who has ever questioned your identity, or if you find yourself living in the grey spaces, I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us.”
DeBose attended the ceremony with her mom Mrs. Gina DeBose , and after her big win, she reunited with her girlfriend, Sue Makkoo. The pair attended the Vanity Fair after-party and seemed madly in love.
Ariana and Sue have been together for almost four years after meeting while doing what they are most passionate about. Learn more about Makkoo and her relationship with the Puerto Rican descent star.
Who is Sue Makkoo?
Makkoo is a well-respected designer and costume director with an impressive career of over 25 years designing costumes for important productions. The designer is also a professor at the Manhattan School of Music, at the University of California, San Diego Department of Theater and Dance MFA program, and works at the La Jolla theater.
Sue seems to have more than 24 hours in a day because she also manages to design costumes for Broadway shows, including Hands on a Hard Body, 33 Variations, Memphis, Sideshow, and Cry Baby.
How did Sue and Ariana meet?
Their love story began literally behind the scenes. Sue and Ariana met while working on Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. According to publications, Makkoo was the costume associate when Ariana played Disco Donna in 2018.
When Makkoo isn’t designing clothes, she is renovating houses
Sue jumps back and forth between her passions. She has an undeniable artistic vein, from costume designer to interior designer. And, of course, Ariana has benefited from her girlfriend’s creativity. The designer shared with My Domaine how she transformed Ariana’s Upstate New York home.
“Well, this house is a bit of a Diva. She wants what she wants and lets you know when you are wrong,” she revealed. “It is a series of L shapes, so it is tricky. My vision has always been to create a magical little spot in the woods. Miss Honey’s cottage, so to speak. That is if Miss Honey was a little bit rock and roll.”
She sews, she decorates, and she writes —what a catch!
Have you visited Sue’s website, Civilized? The portal is poetry galore and a place Makkoo uses to share “moments in a day that were kind.”
Sue is a mom, so Ari is an Oscar-winning stepmom
From the creators of “My Stepmom is Cooler than Yours” and “I Have an Oscar-winning stepmom,” we introduce you to Adalyn Belle, Makkoo’s firstborn. According to Sue, her daughter is a chef with knowledge in psychology. She later began teaching cooking classes for people with Autism.
“I’m lucky, my daughter is my best friend and I just plain love spending time with her, but we have earned it,” she wrote on her website. According to Sue, it wasn’t easy becoming a young single mom. She even says that she feels they raised each other.
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