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Actor Michelle Yeoh took to Instagram to clarify a moment at the Oscars that had lots of fans raising their eyebrows.
At the pivotal moment when Emma Stone won her second Best Actress award for Poor Things, Jennifer Lawrence appeared to some to snatch the statuette away from Yeoh so she could give it to Stone herself.
Yeoh won last year's Best Actress award for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and it is something of Academy Awards tradition that the previous year's acting winners hand out the current year's acting awards.
But Yeoh said that the transition to Lawrence was purposeful so that Stone could get her Oscar from Lawrence, who is one of her closest friends.
Along with a photo of her and Stone embracing during Stone's win, Yeoh wrote:
"Congratulations Emma!! I confused you, but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!!"
"She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis ♥️✨ always there for each other!! 😘😘😘"
The moment was widely misinterpreted by viewers. Some thought Lawrence wrested the statuette away from Yeoh to present it to Stone, while others felt it was Stone who tried to grab it away from Yeoh and give it to Lawrence.
Many accused the two actresses of anti-Asian racism for supposedly denigrating Yeoh in the moment.
But the video of Stone's win, as seen at the 4:55 mark below, very clearly shows that Yeoh's version is the correct one—Yeoh first hands the statuette to Stone, then moves it toward Lawrence. Stone reacts with confusion and can be heard saying, "what do I do?"
Emma Stone Wins Best Actress for 'Poor Things' | 96th Oscars (2024)youtu.be
Yeoh's explanation did little to quell the outrage of scores of people who insisted they know better than Yeoh, however.
Nevertheless, lots of people were touched by Yeoh's gracious choice to unite two besties in a life-changing moment.
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Yeoh has always been a class act, and Stone was lucky to have someone so gracious and caring help make her Oscar moment so memorable.