Da'Vine Joy Randolph gave a passionate speech at the 2024 Oscars, thanking everyone who helped her get on stage at the Dolby Theater to accept the supporting actress award.
“God is so good, God is so good,” the “Holdovers” star said, holding back tears. “I think I was supposed to do this as a career. I started out as a singer and my mother told me, 'Cross that street to that theater department.' There's something for you there.' “I thank my mother for doing that.”
“I thank all the people who stood in my way and were there to help me, who accompanied me and guided me,” he continued. “I am very grateful to all the beautiful people here. For a long time I always wanted to be different and now I realize that I just need to be myself.”
Randolph then specifically thanked his Yale School of Drama professor, Ron Van Lieu. “When she was the only black girl in that class, when she saw me and told me I was enough. And when I told you I don't see myself, she said, 'It's okay.' Let's forge our own path. You're going to leave a path for yourself.'”
She also expressed gratitude for “all the women who have been by my side” and said, “I pray to God that I can do this more than once. Thanks for seeing me”.
Randolph's moving speech drew laughter when he gave “a special shout out to my publicist, and I know you all say, 'Don't say anything about no publicist, but you don't have a publicist like I have a publicist.' !” she said. “You have been by my side and I will be eternally grateful.”
After the commercial break, host Jimmy Kimmel noted that Randolph forgot to mention the name of his publicist (Shelter PR's Marla Farrell) in the speech and joked, “You shouldn't have to pay for the rest of the year.”
