This year's Academy Awards may have lacked the pomp and circumstance we're used to seeing, but the ceremony was certainly a win for diversity.
Following years of criticism and being branded "whitewashed", the 2021 Oscars celebrated diversity, with Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson becoming the first black women to ever win Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Chloé Zhao becoming the first woman of color to win Best Director, and Daniel Kaluuya becoming the first black, British actor to win an Oscar.
Kaluuya took home the gong for Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah, and left us all in awe at his hilariously awkward acceptance speech.
However, following the speech, Kaluuya's night went from hilariously awkward to just plain awkward.
While accepting questions from reporters backstage, Hollywood Foreign Press Association reporter Margaret Gardiner, asked Kaluuya:
"I was wondering what it meant to you to be directed by Regina and what this means for you, at this time, with the world in the state that it's in?"
Many people online believe the reporter was referring to Regina King, who had directed the Oscar-nominated film One Night in Miami... which Kaluuya was not in.
However, Leslie Odom Jr. was - and he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor alongside Kaluuya.
Of course, Judas and the Black Messiah was directed by Shaka King, so it is entirely possible that the reporter was just getting her "Kings" mistaken in the heat of the moment - but either way, it made for some awkward viewing.
Kaluuya not only asked Gardiner to repeat her question, but also made some very noticeable facial expressions that conveyed his confusion. Upon repeating her question, the reporter made no mention of "Regina".
Praising Kaluuya, one social media user wrote: "what a class act for not just absolutely humiliating her on the spot, which he would have been well within his rights to do."
Sharing a video of Kaluuya celebrating his win with Fred Hampton Jr., another Twitter user wrote: "This reporter though. At first I was laughing and admired Daniel for his restraint but the more I think about it I am just angry.
"Watch what this award means to Daniel [...] Then watch how in his moment of glory someone doesn’t take the time to even know who he is. It’s disrespectful."
A third quipped: "When black ppl ask you to repeat yourself....we giving you a chance to check yourself before we do."
Per IndieWire, Gardiner later took to Twitter to explain the apparent mistake and clarify her true intentions, writing:
"Daniel Kaluuya, I did not mistake you for Leslie Odom Jr. I’m sorry if it seemed that way. I had wanted to ask about Regina King not being nominated as a director for ‘One Night in Miami,’ and your win for ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ for the community at this time."
Additionally, she has since told The Los Angeles Times in an interview: "I had wanted to ask him about winning at this moment. […] It’s a zeitgeist moment of people finally recognizing the inequalities of organizations
"When I said it, it came out that he couldn’t hear me."
