Perry takes the podium after being presented with Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, while 'Sound of Metal', 'Soul' and 'Judas and the Black Messiah' add a second win each.

• Apr 26, 2021

AceShowbiz - Tyler Perry took time at the 93rd annual Academy Awards to advocate for peace. Amid the rising violence against Asians and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests across the nation, the filmmaker delivered an inspiring speech about refusing to hate and healing while accepting Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his generosity toward those often overlooked and his steadfast commitment to social justice.

He opened his message by sharing an anecdote about giving a homeless woman a pair of shoes. "In that moment I recall her saying to me, 'I thought you would hate me for asking,' " he recalled. "And I'm like, 'How can I hate you, when I used to be you? How can I hate you when I had a mother who grew up in Jim Crow Louisiana?' " Perry said this mother "taught me to refuse hate."

The owner of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta continued, "I refuse to hate on someone because they are Mexican or because they are black or white or LGBTQ. I refuse to hate someone because they are a police officer. I refuse to hate someone because they are Asian. i would hope that we will all refuse hate."

He later added on how people should react to diversity, "No matter what's around the wall, stand in the middle, 'cause that's where healing happens, that's where conversation happens, that's where change happens."

Perry's speech aside, the Academy Awards has also presented more awards in competitive categories, with "Sound of Metal", "Soul" and "Judas and the Black Messiah" adding a second Oscar win each. "Sound of Metal" won Best Film Editing for Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, "Soul" nabbed Best Original Score for Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, while "Judas and the Black Messiah" picked up Best Original Song for the song "Fight For You", which is performed by H.E.R..