- Teyana Taylor received praise for graciously applauding her competitor’s Oscar win, despite being a nominee herself.
- Critics accused Taylor of ‘doing too much’ with her enthusiastic reaction, but she defended her genuine happiness.
- The Academy apologized for an incident where Taylor was shoved by security, praising her remarkable grace.
When it comes to awards season, the nominees who don’t take home awards are often judged on their every move once the winner is announced.
Teyana Taylor was nominated for her first Oscar this year, earning recognition for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Perfidia in the Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. The singer-turned-actress received critical acclaim for the role, also earning BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and SAG Award nominations, even winning a Golden Globe earlier this year.
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Amy Madigan on Sunday night, who also beat out Wunmi Mosaku, Elle Fanning, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. But when the Weapons actress was announced as the winner, some viewers couldn’t take their eyes off of Taylor, who immediately stood up to happily cheer on her competitor.
Fans across social media reposted the video of Taylor happily hopping up to clap for Madigan, adding commentary about what they deemed to be “doing too much.” They said the same about the clip of her going up to accept the Best Picture award, which shows her tightly wrapping her arms around Paul Thomas Anderson while flashing a huge smile.
“Teyana Taylor is so annoying,” one fan wrote, racking up 18,000 likes.
The Escape Room artist saw a tweet complaining about her enthusiasm and chose to respond, calling the people criticizing her joy “miserable” and educating others on how to “win with grace.”
“The world holds so much misery that miserable hearts forget the face of happiness,” she began. “They grow comfortable being sore losers, so when they see real sportsmanship it unsettles them! like holy water touching a demon. Because clapping for someone else’s victory requires something many people never learned…how to win with grace & pure joy, and how to lose with grace, chin up & dignity.”
In related news, the Academy has responded to the artist being shoved by security at the Oscars.
“We were extremely upset to learn about the experience endured by Teyana Taylor at the end of the Oscars ceremony last night,” they began in a statement, per Variety. “We have worked with Teyana over the last several months during awards season, and she has been nothing short of remarkable, supportive, kind, and all about community. Though the incident was with our outside security firm SIS, the experience of every single guest is our responsibility. We have made it clear to them that this behavior is not acceptable.”
They continued, “We want to thank Teyana for showing remarkable grace, and we are taking the appropriate measures to ensure this does not happen again.”
