Teen suspended for not cutting dreadlocks invited to Oscars
Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, and Matthew A. Cherry invite DeAndre Arnold to the Oscars after he was suspended for not cutting his dreadlocks.
The blessings keep pouring in for DeAndre Arnold, a Texas high school senior who was suspended for not cutting his dreadlocks to the school-approved length.
Matthew A. Cherry, Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union have invited Arnold and his mother to this year’s Oscars ceremony as their guests.
Cherry, the creator of the Oscar-nominated short film Hair Love, said that Dove will “provide full wardrobe and glam for the big night” for him and his mom.
”We’ve all been so inspired by your story and this is the very least we can do to thank you for standing up for yourself and for your right to wear your natural hair at school,” Cherry told him.
“We love the way that you carry yourself and we wanted to do something special for you,” Wade told Arnold. “You and your mother Sandy are the official guests of the Oscar-nominated team behind Hair Love at the 2020 Academy Awards.”
Arnold said that being invited to the Oscars was “a surreal moment.”
”It’s hard to take in,” he said. “I’ve got excitement and then it’s just like, ‘Is this really happening? Am I in a dream?’ … it blows my mind that people that have so much voice, they’re on my side and they’re with me. I love that. I appreciate that. I really do.”
Arnold took time to praise his mom, who he says deserves it all.
”My mom deserves any special treatment she gets. She deserves this. She’s been working so hard, on the computer day and night, just to try and help me get my word out,” he said. “When you have people like this in your corner, there’s no way you can lose. No way.”
Arnold was recently given a $20,000 scholarship from Ellen DeGeneres and Alicia Keys after they heard about his story.
“I’m super proud of you for standing up for what you know is right. I know the school needs to do the right thing. Me and Ellen called our friends at Shutterfly because we know that you’re a special person,” Keys said. “And we know you’re destined for such greatness and we wanted to support that greatness and invest in that greatness. So we wanted to present you with a check for $20,000.”
Arnold is still not able to return to school or walk in his graduation ceremony until he cuts his dreadlocks.