Oscar winner’s 2012 Tweet wishing to be nominated goes viral after victory

Matthew A Cherry’s Tweet from 2012 hoping to one day be nominated for an Oscar has gone viral after he won.

Hair Love, an animated short film about a black man learning to style his child’s hair was written, produced and directed by Cherry, and won in its category at the Academy Awards.

The filmmaker’s eight-year-old tweet reads: “I’m gonna be nominated for an Oscar one day. Already claiming it.”

The Tweet quickly shot to over 9,000 likes after Hair Love won best animated short film.

Cherry said he hoped the film would bring “more representation in animation” and “normalise black hair”.

He dedicated his Oscar to the late basketball star Kobe Bryant and said: “May we all have a second act as great as his was.”