Cynthia Erivo, Jamie Foxx, Louis Gossett Jr., Lena Waithe and HBO's 'The Wire' cast were honored at the 2020 American Black Film Festival Honors on Sunday.
Leonardo DiCaprio surprised the audience at the 2020 American Black Film Festival on Sunday night when he emerged onstage to present the excellence in the arts award to his friend and “Django Unchained” co-star Jaime Foxx.told DiCaprio after opening his speech reminiscing over their working relationship and friendship. “You are my friend and my colleague and this means the world.” Foxx’s latest film, “Just Mercy,” was also awarded the ceremony’s movie of the year award.
The annual ceremony, held at the Beverly Hilton hotel and hosted by actor and comedian Deon Cole, was created to celebrate and uplift black actors, entertainers and artists — enduringly relevant in a year when no actors of color were nominated at the BAFTAS and just one, Cynthia Erivo, was nominated for an Oscar.
In fact, Erivo took home the first trophy of the night, the festival’s rising star award, after being introduced by Tiffany Haddish, herself a recent recipient of the award.“Today I stand here amidst a world of things I never thought possible, sure in the knowledge that it’s a privilege to still be rising,” said the “Harriet” star. “I’m a person who writes lists — I’ve been writing lists of dreams for some time but this year I stopped. I simply exhausted my lists.
“Before I speak, I’d like to give credit to a friend,” he began. “Kobe [Bryant], thank you for leaving us this bright light for us to shine so we don’t make any missteps on the way to [receive] the keys to the kingdom. I’ll see you soon. But you’ve left a light and you’ve shown us the way, and for that I’m eternally grateful.”
He also told the audience, “I’m very grateful to you for thinking about me at this age, it’s amazing.”
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