It’s been a long time coming, many might say, but Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his Oscar, and Twitter appeared to be the hub of all celebration’s following last night’s awards ceremony.
For at least a decade, the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio has been the lead actor in a string of box-office hits yet has never won the Best Actor award at the Oscars has been a gag with plenty of mileage.
At the awards ceremony last night (28 February), DiCaprio’s competition was considered strong enough to shake the film critics’ confidence that he would finally get his chance, with equally impressive performances by Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl and Ireland’s Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs.
But once it came down to it and the award winner’s name was called out, DiCaprio was received rapturous ovation from the crowd, and all he had to do to get it was crawl through miles of dirt and eat raw animal carcasses in The Revenant.
His acceptance speech was particularly noteworthy for his closing comments on the reality of climate change and its visible effects seen throughout 2015 and so far in 2016 citing it as the “the most urgent threat facing our entire species”.
But it’s hard to imagine that at that time people on Twitter heard it as they rushed to overreact to the news of his award, with some clearly having prepared for the announcement.
Leo's career in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/zhJhgEXHKo
— Joe's Daily (@JoesDaily) February 29, 2016
In fact, Twitter users pretty much lost it at the news, with a new record rate of 440,000 tweets per minute being achieved following his award, beating the previous record-holder, that being the Ellen DeGeneres selfie tweet from the 2014 Oscars.
Leo be waking up tomorrow like pic.twitter.com/0t4YnCAlPB
— She Ratchet (@SheeeRatchet) February 29, 2016
Congrats Leo!!!! Finally! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/lp7GweFPNp
— Nikki & Brie (@BellaTwins) February 29, 2016
Others were probably just a little sad that one of the internet’s most popular memes of recent times has finally become incorrect.
CONGRATS TO LEO! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/iOQLP2lSvw
— Digital Tour Bus (@DigitalTourBus) February 29, 2016
And then there’s the Vines, of course.
Young Metro trusts Leo ? https://t.co/yWiqcd5NSG
— Best Vines (@TheFunnyVine) February 29, 2016
Leo walking into the #Oscars after party like….. https://t.co/GcVX0ulfru
— JΛY BUCKS (@TheMasterBucks) February 29, 2016
Congrats Leo! #Oscars https://t.co/NSnKTAxdPz
— Looper (@LooperHQ) February 29, 2016
But, of course, the final word has to go to the award winner himself.
Thank you to the Academy and the incredible cast & crew of #TheRevenant. #Oscars
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) February 29, 2016
#ClimateChange action starts w/ electing leaders who'll make brave & vital changes needed to save our planet. Visit https://t.co/PWFl863hdq
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) February 29, 2016