The honour was indeed befitting for a man who not only chartered a plane to carry Whitney Houstons body to her hometown in Newark NJ, but also paid for $432,635 worth of layaway items at two stores in Atlanta so that struggling families could enjoy Christmas during the pandemic.Most recently it was reported that amongst other charitable gestures, hed housed Prince Harry and Megan at his $18 million Beverly Ridge Estate mansion in LA when they fled the UK.

The billionaire filmmaker made history in 2019 when he became the first black American to fully own a TV studio. A descendant of slaves, Perry purchased 330 acres of land which formally served as a confederate army base. "Think about the poetic justice in that. The Confederate Army is fighting to keep Negroes enslaved in America, fighting, strategy, planning on this very ground. And now this very ground is owned by me," he said in an interview with CBSs Gayle King.

Perry used his Oscar win to deliver an impassioned plea Refuse Hate. ..Stand in the middle cause thats where healing happens. Thats where conversation happens. Thats where change happens. It happens in the middle, he said, dedicating his award to everyone willing to meet him in the middle.

Though his speech resonated with many including Hugh Jackman, Oprah Winfrey and Maria Shriver, it wasnt all love in Twitterville. Riled up viewers took to twitter to air their thoughts on a portion of his speech that included police officers in the list of socially marginalized people groups which Perry refused to hate.

Police officers are not an oppressed group. No one hates the police because of undue prejudice. Its because they engage in state-sanctioned violence against all of the groups Tyler Perry said we shouldnt hate! #Oscars tweeted @KathleenNB

@WrittenbyHanna seemed equally irked, tweeting: In the Tyler Perry universe blue lives matter but not union organizers!!

NYT Bestselling author Brigitte Gabriel shared her thoughts tweeting: Tyler Perry said he refuses to hate someone because they're a police officer while accepting a humanitarian award at the Academy Awards and cancel culture is already coming for him.

Former Good Morning Britain host, Piers Morgan applauded Perrys courage tweeting: This was a rare highlight of an otherwise terrible Oscars - @tylerperry knew the police reference would offend the woke brigade but said it anyway. Hes a courageous & admirable man. America needs more voices like his to speak out.

Written by Akosua DF, Premier Gospel Presenter