Morgan Freeman presented the In Memoriam segment at the Oscars this year – but amid his emotional tribute to late friend Gene Hackman, viewers spotted a unique attire choice.
The legendary actor took to the stage wearing a single black glove as he paid tribute to “good friend” and two-time Oscar winner Hackman.
The legendary Hollywood star, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 63, were found dead on February 26, 2025, inside their $3.3 million estate – an 8,000-square-foot home situated on six acres in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The couple’s German Shepherd was also found dead at the scene. Two of the couple’s other dogs were found alive and “healthy”, police said, per the New York Post.
Hackman, whose career spanned four decades, was a defining figure of the New Hollywood era.
He first gained recognition with an Oscar-nominated performance in Bonnie and Clyde (1968) before winning Best Actor in 1972 for The French Connection.
His portrayal of Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle remains one of cinema’s most iconic performances. He later won a second Academy Award, earning Best Supporting Actor for Unforgiven (1993), directed by and co-starring Clint Eastwood.
Morgan Freeman, who co-starred with Hackman in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, called working with him “one of the personal highlights of my career.”
On the stage of the Dolby Theatre, Freeman paid further tribute to his colleague and friend.
Freeman began by stating that he has “lost a dear friend” and described him as a “generous performer” whose “gifts elevated everyone’s work”.
The legendary actor noted that Hackman will be remembered for his work and “so much more,” before he concluded: “Rest in peace my friend.”
People were quick to react on social media, and it would seem as if there wasn’t a dry eye around.
One person said: “Morgan Freeman has us crying all over again. Rest in peace, Gene.”
A second added: “Morgan Freeman honoring Gene Hackman at the Oscars had me in tears.”
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A third person said: “Morgan Freeman dedicating a tribute to Gene Hackman is everything.”
But amongst the sadness of the passing of Hackman and others mentioned in the emotional segment, fans couldn’t quite figure out why Freeman was wearing a single black glove.
Social media erupted with the question, with one person writing on X: “Why was Morgan Freeman wearing a black glove?”
Though some assumed it was a fashion choice, Freeman’s glove actually has a tragic backstory.
In 2008, the actor was involved in a severe car accident in Mississippi when his vehicle swerved off the road and flipped over.
Emergency responders had to extract him from the wreckage using hydraulic cutters.
Speaking to the Guardian at the time, Clay McFerrin, a local newspaper editor, said: “They had to use the jaws of life [hydraulic cutters] to extract him from the vehicle. He was lucid and conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point.”
Speaking to PEOPLE in 2010, as cited by WHO, Freeman detailed that the crash left him unable to move his hand due to nerve damage that he didn’t recover from. As a result of this, he now wears a compression glove to keep the blood flowing in his hand.
The glove ensures that his hand doesn’t swell up due to its inactivity, and the actor has opened up in the past about the pain that he still endures down his left arm.
Speaking about the injury, Freeman once explained: “I suffered nerve damage and it hasn’t gotten better. I can’t move it. If you don’t move your hand, it will swell up. Do you know you move your hand about a million times a day?”
He has also spoken about experiencing fibromyalgia pain in his arm, telling Esquire in a past interview: “It’s the fibromyalgia. Up and down the arm. That’s where it gets so bad. Excruciating.”
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