The former 'America's Got Talent' judge and her husband Dwyane Wade have invited DeAndre Arnold to the Academy Awards after the boy was suspended for refusing to cut his dreadlocks.
- Feb 2, 2020
AceShowbiz - Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade have invited Texas high school student DeAndre Arnold to the Oscars after he was banned from walking at graduation because of his dreadlocks.
The actress, who is in the midst of a dispute with bosses at NBC over her axing from "America's Got Talent", with reports claiming she raised a number of race and gender-related issues backstage, shared a video directed at Arnold, after he was suspended and prevented from walking at his graduation because of his hairstyle.
The 47-year-old actress showed her support by inviting him as her guest to the Academy Awards ceremony later this month, February 2020.
Debuting the clip during a segment featuring the student on CBS' "This Morning" on Friday, January 31, she said, "Hey DeAndre, I'm Gabrielle Union and I am one of the producers of the Oscar-nominated short film Hair Love."
"When we heard about this amazing story about this young black father with long, beautiful locks, just trying to figure out how to do his daughter's hair, we knew that we had to support any way we could. We had to get involved any way we could."
Drawing parallels between his story and her short film, she continued, "The same way as when we heard about your story, and you just wanting to wear your hair, the way you want, at school, and all this scrutiny that you faced and how unwavering you have been in standing up for yourself. We also knew that we had to get involved."
Former Miami Heat star Dwyane, 38, went on to offer to cover a trip to Los Angeles for the student and his family, along with all of their accommodations while he attended the Oscars ceremony on February 9.
Dwyane said that DeAndre and his mother were official guests of the Hair Love team at the Academy Awards, where they were nominated in the Best Animated Short Film category.
"Get ready, you're going to the Oscars, bud," he added.
