Actor and director Regina King acknowledged the hardships of the past year during an opening straight out of the movies for the 2021 Oscars. “It has been quite a year and we are still smack dab in the middle of it," King said. "We are mourning the loss of so many, and I have to be honest, if things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots." In addition to her reaction to the guilty verdict at Derek Chauvin's trial in the killing of George Floyd, King noted that the personal impact recent news cycles have had on her. “Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you.