Teenager told to cut his dreadlocks off by school attends Oscars with 'Hair Love' team

DeAndre Arnold from Texas who earlier gained national attention after his school, Belvieu High said he couldn’t come to the school unless he cut his dreadlocks attended Oscars on Sunday. He was accompanied by the team of Hair Love, the animated short film about a black father learning to do his daughter’s hair. According to International media, the director and writer of the short film Matthew Cherry and one of the producers, Gabrielle Union invited the teenage boy to the award function.

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Union also posted a video in which she said that when she heard the boy’s story and that he wanted to wear’s his hair in his own way at school and all the scrutiny that he faced and was still standing up for himself, she knew that the team had to get involved. According to reports, Union’s husband Dwayne Wade, who is a retired NBA player announced that they were paying for Arnold and his mother Sandy to attend the Los Angeles festivities. 

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'Inspired by his story' 

Cherry said that they were all so inspired by his story and this was the least they could do for him, reported international media. Arnold appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last month, during which Alicia Keys presented him with a $20,000 check for his college tuition. While at the show, he said, “Every day I would go to school, I would always be in dress code,” he said during his appearance. “But the thing with them is, if it was let down, I would be out of dress code. If girls can have long hair, why can’t I have long hair?”

Hair Love won the Academy Awards in the 'Best Animated Short Film' category. It follows the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time and features Issa Rae as a voice.

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(With Agency Inputs)