Oscar winners slam Donald Trump’s policies in their speeches

Almost all of the Oscar winners have slammed US President Donald Trump’s policies during their speeches at the 89th edition of the Academy Awards ceremony.

Political speeches dominated the Oscars ceremony on February 26, with winners lining up to outdo each other as they spoke out against Trump's immigration ban for citizens from Iran and several other predominantly Muslim countries.

The slamming race was launched as Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel fired several shots at Trump during his opening monologue.

Calling Trump's immigration policy “inhumane”, almost every actor, director and designer dedicated their Academy Awards to “the immigrants."

Makeup artist Alessandro Bertolazzi was the first Oscar winner to mention politics in his acceptance speech, where he dedicated his win in the makeup and hair-styling category to “all the immigrants.”

Iranian astronaut Anousheh Ansari and NASA scientist Firouz Naderi represented their fellow countryman director Asghar Farhadi during the ceremony, bringing home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for his drama ‘The Salesman’.

Boycotting the awards ceremony in revolt against Trump's immigration ban, Farhadi was quoted by Ansari as saying, “I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and the other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US.”

“Dividing the world into the us and our enemies categories creates fear; a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression,” Farhadi also noted.

Mexican actor Gael García Bernal said, “Flesh and blood actors are migrant workers... We travel all over the world. We construct families, we build life but we cannot be divided. As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being I'm against any form of wall that wants to separate us.”

Directors of animated film ‘Zootopia’, ‘Moonlight’ director Barry Jenkins, and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs also expressed their negative feelings toward Trump policies.

The 89th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2016 on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

MG/AI