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

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:

— Jarrett Bellini (@JarrettBellini) March 13, 2023

I’m seated right here. Good news is, I’m at the Oscars. Bad news is I can’t see a thing. pic.twitter.com/AteBlAIIuN

— devon sawa (@DevonESawa) March 13, 2023

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

— OFPMarine (@OfpMarine) March 13, 2023

I’m cryinnnnnnn

tems got that lady fighting for her life pic.twitter.com/Js06VdbyyU

— alex medina (@mrmedina) March 13, 2023

Was this a “rude” move as noted on Twitter

— George Hahn (@georgehahn) March 13, 2023

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