I never really understood the “backlash” against Teyana Taylor this season. One of the arguments was that Taylor played a trope in One Battle After Another. I disagree, but even if you believe that, that’s not on Teyana, that’s on Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote the now Oscar-winning script. As the awards season marched along, Teyana conducted herself well, in my opinion – she seemed thrilled to be invited, thrilled to be nominated, and thrilled to celebrate and uplift OBAA AND all of the other films in contention. Teyana and Leonardo DiCaprio were two of the first people out of their seats to celebrate Michael B. Jordan’s Oscar win. Teyana also jumped up to give Amy Madigan a standing ovation when Madigan beat Teyana in the Best Supporting Actress race. Well, that moment – when Teyana celebrated Amy Madigan’s win – caught the eye of many people, people who talked sh-t online. Well, Teyana is online too.
Teyana Taylor doesn’t care if you don’t like the way she celebrates her fellow creatives who just won an Oscar. The actress, who was nominated for best supporting actress at the 98th Academy Awards for her role as Perfidia in One Battle After Another, took to X on Monday to slam those who have grown “comfortable being sore losers.”
Her comments came after she received criticism for being excited about her fellow nominees, specifically when she jumped out of her seat to cheer for Weapons star Amy Madigan, who ended up taking home the Oscar in the best supporting actress category on Sunday.
“I knew from the first hour something was off,” one person wrote on X about Taylor, to which she replied, “The world holds so much misery that miserable hearts forget the face of happiness.”
The actress continued, “They grow comfortable being sore losers, so when they see real sportsmanship it unsettles them! like holy water touching a demon. Because clapping for someone else’s victory requires something many people never learned…how to win with grace & pure joy, and how to lose with grace, chin up & dignity.”
Taylor was filled with energy throughout the entire ceremony, continuing to cheer on the winners. At the end, when One Battle After Another was named best picture, she was even seen jumping for joy with her arms around director Paul Thomas Anderson as they made their way up on the stage.
She’s right, but I don’t even think she needs to fight these fights. People get emotional about the Oscars and who wins and how people react in real time. I think Teyana had already started to realize that she wasn’t going to win, and she was prepared to celebrate whoever won. There was also a symmetry to Teyana’s reaction for Amy Madigan – when Teyana won the Golden Globe, Amy was one of the first people cheering for her. That probably meant a lot to Teyana. Let me say this as well – despite the commentary of OBAA vs. Sinners or Madigan vs. Taylor, I got the sense that among the nominated artists during this awards season, there was a lot of love and support across the board. Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler posed together backstage at the Oscars, Coogler and Chloe Zhao have been tight for over a decade, Michael B. Jordan gave a huge hug to Jessie Buckley after their wins, and on and on. Spectacularly good vibes between artists this year (minus Timmy Chalamet).
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
