Tyler Perry's Oscars speech had an inspired Hugh Jackman 'yelling at the TV'
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Tyler Perry's stirring speech at the 2021 Oscars about refusing "hate" was one of the show's highlights — especially for Hugh Jackman.
The Wolverine star took to Instagram and addressed Perry directly, asking the director to "break bread" with him and figure out how to create change within the entertainment industry.
"There were so many great moments at the Oscars last night," Jackman said. "That one in particular really touched me. Because when Tyler speaks of stepping into the middle I was literally yelling at the TV, 'I'll meet you in the middle, Tyler!'"
While receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, Perry told a moving story about a homeless woman who approached him for help more than a decade ago.
"I reach into my pocket and I'm about to give her the money and she says, 'Excuse me, sir, do you have any shoes?'" he recalled. "It stopped me cold because I remember being homeless and having one pair of shoes and they were bent over at the heels."
Perry remembered the woman telling him she thought he would hate her for asking for help. "How could I hate you when I used to be you?" he said.
The 51-year-old mogul, who launched Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta in 2019, has spoken before about how he was homeless while trying to make it in Hollywood. During Sunday's speech, he thanked his mom who "taught me to refuse blanket judgment."
"I refuse to hate someone because they are Mexican or because they are Black or white or LGBTQ. I refuse to hate someone because they are a police officer. I refuse to hate someone because they are Asian," he declared, dedicating the Oscar to anyone willing to "stand in the middle" with him.
"Because that's where healing happens, that's where conversation happens, that's where change happens, it happens in the middle," he concluded. "So anyone who wants to meet me in the middle to refuse hate, to refuse blanket judgment and to help lift someone’s feet off the ground, this one is for you too."
Well, Jackman is ready to meet Perry in the middle.
"Thank you for your inspiration, thank you for all you do, thank you for your leadership," the Australian actor, 52, said. "I'm literally hopefully going to meet you in the middle. Let's break bread, which I will bake, and let's talk about how we can get stuff done because dude, it's astonishing what you're doing and you're an inspiration.
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