NFL Alum Matthew Cherry Honours Kobe Bryant At Oscars: ‘May We All Have A Second Act As Great As His’

Matthew Cherry is dedicating his Academy Award to Kobe Bryant.

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The ex-NFL player-turned-Oscars winner honoured Bryant when accepting the award for Best Animated Short at Sunday’s ceremony. Cherry had previously said it would be extra special to win the same Oscar as Bryant, a fellow ex-pro athlete. He did just that.

“‘Hair Love was done because we wanted to see more representation in animation,” Cherry explained. “We wanted to normalize black hair, there is a very important issue that’s out there.”

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“This award is dedicated to Kobe Bryant,” Cherry concluded. “May we all have a second act as great as his was!”

Meanwhile, Karen Rupert Toliver said in her acceptance speech for the Oscar: “In cartoons, that’s when we first see our movies and that’s how we shape our lives and think about how we see the world.”