Mo’Nique wins Best Supporting Actress

Fresh on the heels of Precious‘ win for best adapted screenplay, Mo’Nique has taken home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her harrowing portrayal of an abusive mother in the film. Mo’Nique was considered the front runner as she swept the awards season in this category, winning the BAFTA, SAG, Spirit and Golden Globe awards, among others. There were rumors of a minor backlash against her for demanding payment for appearances promoting the film, something she even admitted to. In the end, none of that mattered and Mo’Nique’s strong performance won over the Academy. Like her Golden Globe acceptance speech, Mo’Nique didn’t prepare and her words came from the heart. The 42 year-old actress gave a moving speech in which she thanked Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Academy Award, for 1933’s Gone With the Wind. (Hattie wasn’t even invited to the then-segregated ceremony to accept her statue.) She also thanked her husband, Sidney Hicks.

First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics. I want to thank Ms. Hattie McDaniel for enduring all that she had to so that I would not have to. Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey because she touched it the whole world saw it. Rickey Anderson our attorney of Anderson and Smith thank you for your hard work. My entire BET family, my Precious family, thank you so much. To my amazing husband, Sidney, thank you for showing me that sometimes you have to forgo doing what’s popular in order to do what’s right. And baby you were so right. God bless us all.

[From Mo'Nique's acceptance speech]

Mo’Nique has said in the past that making Precious changed her life, and she hopes the film affected other people too. “I’m very honored and grateful they recognized the performance, but we didn’t do the project with the feeling of, ‘This is going to get us an award.’ We did the project with the feeling of ‘Oh my God, this will change lives.’” Congratulations to Mo’Nique!