All of the Surprise Appearances, Snacks & Feel-Good Moments on the Oscars 2020 Red Carpet

Last month, Texas high school student Arnold claimed that he was suspended and told that he would not be able to walk in his high school graduation ceremony unless he cut his dreadlocks. 

Arnold said his father is from Trinidad and that many men in his culture grow dreadlocks. “I really like that part of Trinidadian culture; I really embrace that,” he told KPRC.

Once Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union, co-producers of the Academy Award-nominated short film Hair Love, and Matthew A. Cherry, the film’s creator, got wind of the heartbreaking story, they decided to treat Arnold and his mother to an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2020 Oscars. 

“We’ve all been so inspired by your story and this is the very least we can do to thank you for standing up for yourself and for your right to wear your natural hair at school,” Cherry told the teen in a clip featured on CBS This Morning.

Now that the big day has come, Wade, Union and Cherry proved to live up to their promise as Arnold made his Oscars red carpet debut looking sharp in a suit and proudly wearing his dreadlocks pulled back in a sleek ponytail.