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Oscar Nominee Tems’ Absurdly Expansive, View-Blocking Dress Inspired Jokes And Fury In Equal Measure

Tems Oscars Dress
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Tems attended the Oscars with a nomination in the Best Original Song category for co-writing “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther. The song, performed by Rihanna during the broadcast, lost to “Naatu Naatu” (by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj) from RRR. Yet Tems — as with fellow nominee Lady Gaga (who performed “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick) — also made headlines for what materialized on the red carpet.

Actually, Tems’ red carpet look overflowed into the semi-stratosphere of the Dolby Theatre. The “Essence” collaborator (who nabbed a spot on our the Most Anticipated R&B Albums Of 2023 list) attended the awards ceremony in a Lever Spring/Summer Couture dress. The gown burst out of all structural confines on the red carpet, and that includes the dramatic headpiece, which remained in place when she took her seat.

As a result, several people who were seated behind and surrounding Tems ended up not being able to see the show. The “stratus cloud” effect was real:

Yep, Tems ended up blocking views from people who either tweeted about this absurdity or were photographed as such.

Was this a “rude” move as noted on Twitter?

Or was this a case of purposefully “taking up space” to express confidence with being seen and heard as a Black woman?

Both statements can be true and valid, as a few Tweeters noted.

Still, the debate raged between people who found Tems’ strategy to be less than polite at a seated event (the headdress could have been adjustable, at least?)…

… and those who offered plentiful support for the aforementioned “taking up space” concept.

The rest of our Oscars 2023 coverage can be viewed here.