Sunday night was the 88th Annual Academy Awards and more than just a few awards were handed out. Several of the big name celebrities made bold political statements while they had the attention of the room and the cameras, but perhaps no one made a bigger statement than Leonard DiCaprio did during his acceptance speech.
While up on stage accepting his Best Actor award for the film “The Revenant”, DiCaprio commanded the attention of the room with his speech about climate change and how it is impacting the world. In his speech he stressed how climate change is “real” and “it is happening right now”. He urged everyone to “work together to support leaders around the world who speak for all of humanity”. He said that this is for “our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”
DiCaprio is one of the few speeches that ran over and did not get played out by the house band at the awards ceremony.
DiCaprio has been a supporter of the environment and its health for years. He started a foundation in 1998 to support projects that would help to protect endangered animals, conserve wild lands, restore balance to ecosystems, and protect communities. He is also a UN Messenger of Peace.