On 15 March, Riz Ahmed [1] was announced as a nominee for best actor in a leading role for this year's Oscars [2]. The nomination came about as a result of his recent film Sound of Metal [3], which led to Ahmed being the first ever Muslim nominee at the Oscars to date. It's a pretty big deal to most of us; however, Ahmed's family seemed less than impressed at the news.

The actor shared a hilarious tweet that read "My cousin Adnan legit didn't know what the Oscars were. 'Why all the gas? I won best client engagement award for the financial quarter'. Other cousin steps in 'Na it's not as big as that, cos he didn't win anything. It's more like getting an email from your boss.' Thanks, boss."

As someone who comes from a South-Asian family myself, I must admit that the reaction isn't surprising, but I can't help but feel sorry for Ahmed, and I'm not the only one who can relate. Twitter users were quick to react to Ahmed's news, with one user tweeting [4] "Please tell your cousin Adnan congratulations on best client engagement!" and another stating that [5] "this is the most Desi tweet I have ever seen with my own two eyes".

In order to be crowned best actor, Ahmed will have to beat off competition from the likes of Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Gary Oldman (Mank), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), and Steven Yeun (Minari) for the prize.

My cousin Adnan legit didn't know what the Oscars were. "Why all the gas? I won best client engagement award for the financial quarter". Other cousin steps in "Na it's not as big as that, cos he didn't win anything. It's more like getting an email from your boss." Thanks, boss.

— Riz Ahmed (@rizwanahmed) March 23, 2021 [6]