Media in Frenzy as Leonardo DiCaprio Wins Belated Oscar

In a night of controversy and unexpected wins, Leonardo DiCaprio's long-awaited triumph seemed like the one inevitable event of the evening.

By: Pari Heidari, 'Larry King Now’

The internet went into a frenzy last night when the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrived. After a prolific career, consisting of some of the most-acclaimed movies made in the last decade, Leonardo DiCaprio was recognized at last at The Academy Awards. While he was up against some tough competition - with fellow nominees Bryan Cranston, (Trumbo) Matt Damon, (The Martian) Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) also getting the nod - DiCaprio took home the award for 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role’ for his role as American frontiersman, Hugh Glass, in Alejandro Iñárritu’s 'The Revenant.'
This is, of course, DiCaprio's sixth Oscar nomination but first win. In recent years,there's been a deluge of memes online, lampooning the actor's long road to securing the golden statuette.

 He was first nominated back in 1994 - when he was a young actor of 19 - for his supporting role alongside Johnny Depp in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape.' Since then, he’s been in a stream of critically-successful films, such as ''Revolutionary Road,' 'The Departed,' Inception,' 'Catch Me If You Can' and 'Gangs of New York.' He was duly nominated for his leading roles in 'The Aviator,' 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street.’

When the big moment finally came, DiCaprio received standing ovations from his fellow actors and actresses. “I was very moved,” he said when interview after the show. 
Following the #OscarsSoWhite movement, it was anticipated that politics and talk of diversity would take center stage at the awards ceremony. And DiCaprio, a United Nations-appointed 'Messenger of Peace,' made use of the Oscar platform to highlight an issue he's been devoted to for years: climate change.
“Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now,” he said. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world…and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.” 

In 1988, he launched 'The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation,' with the objective to support environmental and sustainability issues. The Foundation has granted more than $30 million to various projects in over 44 countries around the world. The actor and environmentalist also addressed the UN summit meeting on climate change in New York in 2014, saying 'Climate change is not hysteria – it's a fact.'

"The Revenant,” which led this years Oscar nominations with 12 mentions, also took home the Oscars for 'Best Achievement in Directing’ and 'Best Achievement in Cinematography.'

See how 'X-files' star, Gillian Anderson, reacted to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy when she sat down with Larry on 'Larry King Now!' last month!

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC, its affiliates, or its employees.

Continue the Discussion