Angela Bassett has finally received an Oscar, and it's about damn time
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
- Angela Bassett received an honorary Oscar at the 14th Governors Awards on Tuesday.
- She was previously nominated for "What's Love Got to Do with It" and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
- So it's about damn time Bassett won an Oscar, says BI entertainment reporter Eammon Jacobs.
A year after Angela Bassett was quite frankly robbed of the Oscar for best supporting actress, the star has finally got a gold statue of her own.
On Tuesday, the 65-year-old actor was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 2024 Governors Awards in Los Angeles.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) governors award the honorary statues to individuals who have exemplified "extraordinary lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to the Academy," per the Oscars website.
Bassett earned her second Oscar nomination last year for her spine-tingling performance in 2022's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," in which her matriarch character, Queen Ramonda, deals with losing her son, King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman).
Critics and fans alike praised Bassett's complex performance, which balanced Ramonda's devastation and rage. But come Oscars night, Jamie Lee Curtis won the award for her role in "Everything Everywhere All At Once," a decision that is still debated on social media a year later.
Last year's nomination is not Bassett's first taste of Oscars defeat, either.
She was nominated in 1994 for playing singer Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do with It," but lost out to Holly Hunter for "The Piano."
Bassett's performances in "Wakanda Forever" and "What's Love Got to Do with It" earned her Golden Globes, signifying she was more than worthy of the Oscar.
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
It's only right that the star has finally received recognition from the Academy, and during Tuesday's awards, Bassett delivered an inspiring speech pointing out that so few Black women have won Oscars.
"This honor isn't just for, or about, me. What I hope this moment means is that we are taking the necessary steps towards a future in which it is the norm, not the exception, to see and embrace one another's full humanity, stories, and perspectives," she said.
"This must be our goal, and to always remember that there is room for us all. When we stand together, we win together," the newly minted Oscar winner added.
Hear! Hear!