American filmmaker, Tyler Perry will receive an honourary statuette at this year’s Oscars.
Perry, according to the Academy, will be recognised for his humanitarian work, including efforts to get the entertainment industry safely back to work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commending Perry’s art and affluence, David Rubin, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said: “He has quietly and steadily focused on humanitarian and social justice causes from the beginning of his career, caring for people who are most often ignored.”
Recall that last year, the Black entertainment mogul has set up a self-contained, 330-acre (133-hectare) production “campus” at a Civil War-era Confederate military base in Atlanta, Georgia, where hundreds have been employed while COVID-19 shuts down productions in Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Amongs other humanitarian course he has committed himself to, was championing the greater diversity in Hollywood.
He had also produced dozens of films and TV shows starring mainly African American actors, and last year, he paid funeral costs for victims of police violence including George Floyd.
The 51-year-old first achieved mainstream success with his outspoken grandmother character –Madea in the 2005 movie Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
A string of Madea films followed, all with Perry in drag in the role of the title character.
He has also appeared in movies including Star Trek (2009), Gone Girl (2014), and Vice (2018).
His films, TV shows, and plays have since made him a household name in the US, especially among African Americans, and he became a billionaire last year, according to Forbes.