‘Wicked' star Paul Tazewell makes major career leap with historic Oscars win

Paul Tazewell just made "Wicked" history at the 2025 Oscars!

The costume designer, who was the mastermind behind the dressing of Wicked actors and actresses won the accolade for Best Costume Design on Sunday, March 2, making him the first Black man to take home the trophy.

In his acceptance speech, the 60-year-old stated, "This is absolutely astounding. Thank you Academy for this very significant honor."

"I'm the first Black man to receive the costume design award for my work on Wicked. I'm so proud of this,” he further mentioned.

Tazewell continued, "Thank you everyone in the U.K. for all of your beautiful work, I could not have done this without you."

Then giving a shoutout to the Wicked cast, he mentioned, "My Ozian muses, Cynthia [Erivo] and Ariana [Grande], I love you so much - all the other cast, thank you thank you thank you, for trusting me with bringing your characters to life. This is everything. Director Jon M. Chu and producer [Marc Platt], thank you."

His win also comes years after Ruth E. Carter became the first Black person to bag the award for Best Costume Design trophy, fir her efforts in Black Panther (2018) and then winning again for her contributions to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).