--- title: Oscars 2018: Jordan Peele Wins Best Original Screenplay description: Jordan Peele, 39, became the first-ever African American to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his work on 'Get Out' canonical: https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-05T03:48:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:30:51.579Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Jordan Peele Is the First African American to Win Best Original Screenplay og:description: The 'Get Out' writer-director made history at the 90th annual Academy Awards og:url: https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9e3ff47ccfc4c81/698929990a4a2231d29d1fa7/jordan-peele-get-out-screenplay-oscars-academy-awards-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: oscar-winners-2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jordan Peele Is the First African American to Win Best Original Screenplay twitter:description: The 'Get Out' writer-director made history at the 90th annual Academy Awards twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9e3ff47ccfc4c81/698929990a4a2231d29d1fa7/jordan-peele-get-out-screenplay-oscars-academy-awards-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jordan Peele Is the First African American to Win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 5, 2018 3:48 AM UTC  Writer/director Jordan Peele accepts Best Original Screenplay for 'Get Out' onstage during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood. Writer/director Jordan Peele accepts Best Original Screenplay for 'Get Out' onstage during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on March 4, 2018 in Hollywood.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Mar 5, 2018 3:48 AM UTC Comedian turned writer-director [Jordan Peele](http://time.com/5159850/jordan-peele-get-out-fears-and-cultural-hope/) made history Sunday at the [90th annual Academy Awards](http://time.com/5136088/oscars-2018-when-where-nominees-host/) for his work on Best Picture nominee _Get Out_. Peele, 39, became the first-ever African American to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, beating out strong competition from Guillermo del Toro’s _The Shape of Water_ and [Greta Gerwig’s _Lady Bird._](http://time.com/5180697/how-greta-gerwig-is-leading-by-example/) Accepting the award on stage, Peele said: “This means so much to me. I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible. I thought it wasn’t going to work. “I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie,” he added. Other black writers have taken home an award in the sister category, Best Adapted Screenplay, including Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney last year for _Moonlight_ and John Ridley in 2013 for _12 Years a Slave._ But Peele’s _Get Out_ is the first script by a black writer to win for original writing—meaning its subject matter was not adapted from a previously published work, such as a novel or stageplay. In addition to Best Picture, Peele is also up for an Academy Award for Best Director. He would also become the first African American to win that category should he triumph later this evening. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/"},"headline":"Jordan Peele Is the First African American to Win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay","datePublished":"2018-03-05T03:48:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:30:51.579Z","description":"The 'Get Out' writer-director made history at the 90th annual Academy Awards","url":"https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/","keywords":["awards","onetime","Oscars 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9e3ff47ccfc4c81/698929990a4a2231d29d1fa7/jordan-peele-get-out-screenplay-oscars-academy-awards-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb9e3ff47ccfc4c81/698929990a4a2231d29d1fa7/jordan-peele-get-out-screenplay-oscars-academy-awards-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"oscar-winners-2018","caption":"Jordan Peele screenplay 90th Academy Awards Oscars Hollywood winners","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5184780/jordan-peele-oscars-best-screenplay/","name":"Jordan Peele Is the First African American to Win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay"}}]}] ```