Hair Love Director Called His Oscar Win Four Years Ago

"Hair Love" won an Oscar on Sunday night — but it came as no surprise to its director.

Matthew A. Cherry predicted winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short four years ago, and he has the tweet to prove it.

"Any 3D artists follow me? I got an Oscar worthy short film idea to go with this image. Get at me," he asked on Twitter on May 10, 2016, sharing a still from the beginning of the project.

On Sunday night, after his name was pulled from the envelope, he retweeted that same message, adding: "Nailed it." It was liked more than 600k times.

The film, which stars Issa Rae as voice talent, tells the story of a loving dad trying to deal with his young daughter Zuri's hair for the first time, while her mom is in hospital.

Cherry started a kickstarter to fund it in 2017, soaring past its goal of $75k to more than $300k raised, more than any other short film project on the platform.

Accepting her award at the Dolby Theatre, producer Karen Rupert Toliver — the first ever black woman to win in the category — highlighted how representation in animation matters deeply, as they are often "when we first see our movies."

Cherry meanwhile called for the Crown Act — a bill passed in California last year that protects black people from hair discrimination — to be enacted in all 50 states.

He gave a shout out to DeAndre Arnold — who also joined them on the red carpet — the Texas teen who was told he could not walk at his graduation unless he cut off his dreadlocks.

Cherry's Oscar prediction skills stretch well before 2016 too: Four years previously, on June 1, 2012 he tweeted: "I'm gonna be nominated for an Oscar one day. Already claiming it."

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