Four days ago, Mahershali Ali and his wife Amatus Sami-Karim welcomed a baby girl into the world — which means that taking home an Oscar Sunday night would just be a cherry on top of a wonderful week. But Ali indeed lucked out again at the Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statue for his role as Juan in Moonlight. And the new dad knew just who to thank when he got up there.
First, Ali gave a shout-out to all of his mentors, as well as his co-stars and the crew of the Best Picture nominee. Then, he turned his attention to the love of his life. "Lastly, I just want to thank my wife, who was in her third trimester during awards season, who just had our daughter four days ago." He continued, "I just want to thank her for being such a soldier through this process, and really carrying me through it all. So thank you, I really appreciate it. Peace and blessings."
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Ali's beautiful tribute (which you can watch in full below) was touching and genuine — and a message heard all too rarely at glitzy awards shows. Recognizing his wife's support of him throughout the awards show circuit for Moonlight was heartening to hear.
The pair, who wed in 2013, shared the news of their first child together on Instagram on Friday. Ali posted a precious photo of Amatus holding their newborn, taken over her shoulder. "Bari (Bar-ee) Najma Ali ?2/22/17 #pisces," he captioned the picture.
Moonlight was nominated in 10 categories total, including Best Director for Barry Jenkins and Best Supporting Actress for Naomie Harris. Let's hope Moonlight continue to shine tonight.
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