Fantasia Barrino; Leonardo DiCaprio.Photo:Rodin Eckenroth/Variety via Getty
Rodin Eckenroth/Variety via Getty
Fantasia Barrinois aLeonardo DiCapriofangirl!
TheGrammywinner expressed her appreciation for actor DiCaprio atVariety’s Power of Womenevent in Los Angeles on Thursday evening, giving him a shout-out in the middle of her speech.
As she accepted her award, Barrino, 39, suddenlybecame visibly distractedand turned her head, saying, “So I want to thank you … oh my God, is that Leonardo DiCaprio?”
Pointing at the offscreenOscarwinner, 49, as the audience laughed, Barrino said, “Sorry! Keep this in the film. Hi, love you!” and waved at DiCaprio before getting back to her speech.
The actor later shouted out Barrino in his own speech before introducing hisKillers of the Flower MooncostarLily Gladstone, opening with, “My new best friend Fantasia over there.”
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Also during her speech, Barrino said she “didn’t think that [she] would come this far,” and thanked Celie, her character inTheColor Purpleboth onBroadwayand the upcoming film adaption, which will mark her big-screen debut.
And while she admitted she “didn’t want to play this role again” because she it “would bring up some certain things in my life that I thought I was over,” she changed her mind when she thought about the wide impact it would have.
“When they called me, I said, ‘I cannot do it.I’m married. I’m happy. No thanks,’ " Barrino recalled. “But I had to for every young lady that has been through certain things that I’ve been through. Not even [just] the young ladies — there are some ladies that are a lot older than me that say, ‘Thank you for sharing your story.’ "
Fantasia Barrino at theVarietyPower of Women event in Los Angeles on Nov. 16, 2023.Unique Nicole/WireImage
Unique Nicole/WireImage
During DiCaprio’s speech at the Power of Women event, he praised his “very good friend” Gladstone, 37, not only for her “shape-shifting” performance as Mollie Burkhart in theMartin ScorseseepicKillers of the Flower Moon, but for her activism as well.
“Her tireless and passionate efforts reflect a commitment to rectifying systematic issues within our country and tribal communities,” he said. “Her work with theNational Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, a native-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending violence against Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian women, is a deep part of who she is.”
DiCaprio went on to tell Gladstone that he is “filled with immense pride we were able to tell this story together — that we did this film together.”
“It was a necessary truth,” he added. “Itwas truth about howmuch has been stolen from the Native Americans, the systematic violence towards Native women, and a story that at its very heart is a microcosm of the ongoing persecution of the Native Americans that still exists today.”
source: people.com
