Tyler Perry’s Oscars speech earns high praise from Meghan McCain. Here’s why
Meghan McCain was among those moved by Tyler Perry’s impassioned speech at the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday.
“The View” co-host admitted she didn’t tune into the three hour-long ceremony but saw clips from the night’s festivities, including Perry’s “beautiful” address as he accepted the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
“His calls for meeting in the middle and loving one another no matter your race or where you’re from or what you do — he said he respects police officers,” McCain told fellow co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines during Monday’s show.
“I was like, ‘Tyler Perry should run for president,’ “ said McCain, the daughter of the late John McCain. “Everybody loves him and he’s such a leader and he has such a good heart.”
Perry — an acclaimed actor, writer, producer and movie maker — is perhaps best known for his “Madea” movies and stage plays, which are just part of the cinematic empire that landed him on Forbes “World’s Billionaire List” for 2021. As he climbed the ladder of success, the Louisiana native made it his mission to give back whether it be providing free Thanksgiving dinners to struggling families or creating “Camp Quarantine” at his Atlanta studios to ensure his actors could continue working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perry was honored for his good deeds at the Ocsars on Sunday, where he invoked his mother’s teachings.
“It is my hope that all of us would teach our kids ... to refuse hate,” he said. “I refuse to hate someone because they are Mexican or because they are Black or white or LBGTQ, I refuse to hate someone because they are a police officer. I refuse to hate someone because they are Asian.”
Perry’s speech earned praise from many, however, others found it problematic. Critics pointed to Perry’s comparison of police officers to racial and ethnic groups that, critics say, historicallyhave been oppressed by police.
“Tyler Perry slipped being a police officer in there with race, gender, and sexuality,” one viewer wrote on Twitter. “At this time. Truly a diasporic embarrassment and disrespectful to the movement in this country, but also telling you clearly where he aligns.”
“Did Tyler Perry just equate being a police officer to being queer or Asian?!?!?!?????” someone else asked.
Meanwhile, Perry’s speech earned praise among conservatives such as McCain and Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, who called it a “moment of sanity.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Tyler Perry’s Oscars speech earns high praise from Meghan McCain. Here’s why."