After a standing ovation from his peers, Peele confessed that he had stopped writing the critically acclaimed and commercially successful horror film nearly two dozens times, fearing it may never get made.
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"I thought it was impossible. I thought it wasn't going to work. I thought no one would ever make this movie," he said. "I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone would let me make this movie that people would hear it and people would see it."
"So I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie," Peele added.
The Oscar was the latest in a string of honors Peele collected this award season for "Get Out." He'd already won a Satellite Award, a Critics Choice Movie Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Writers Guild of America Award and two Independent Spirit Awards, and received numerous other nominations.
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Following Peele's win, long-time collaborator Keegan Michael-Key (with whom Peele created "Key & Peele," which ran for five seasons on Comedy Central), sent his congratulations with the hashtag #OscarsSoPeele.
Peele's win comes amid a years-long wave of change at the Oscars and in Hollywood in general as creators and fans alike pushed for greater diversity in the industry through campaigns like #OscarsSoWhite, #AskHerMore and #TimesUp. The 90th Oscars also saw Greta Gerwig nab the first female director nom in nearly a decade, while James Ivory became the oldest Oscar winner ever.