Tems Gets Trolled For Blocking People’s View With 'Cloud-Like Dress' at the Oscars | “Sitting Behind a Stratus Cloud”

Temilade Openiyi, the Nigerian singer-songwriter's debut at the Oscars is unforgettable for many reasons. Temilade Openiyi, aka Tems, is the first Nigerian to have an Oscar nomination and the first African woman to have five Billboard hits. She is the continent's best-selling female artist and her and Rihanna's victory at the Oscars is a momentous occasion to celebrate black women and their achievements. But Tem's cloud-like white dress is also making hilariously memorable history. So the singer's ambitious vision called for an "outside the box" dress. But Tems did not realize her gown flowing over her shoulders and head like a cloud would block the view of artists sitting behind her. Oops! 

The Nigerian artist was nominated for co-writing the song Lift Me Up performed by Rihanna and featured in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Talking about her ultra-flowy and view-blocking dress to Harpers Bazaar, Tems described the look as "outside the box." She was dressed in a white Lever Couture gown with delicate tulle fabric weaved into a head-to-toe asymmetrical silhouette, per People. She completed the look with silver gemstone heels and bling on her wrists and fingers. The custom-designed white sculptural gown was from Ukrainian brand Lever Couture's AW22 Leleka Couture collection.

The dress was indeed gorgeous and worthy of the red carpet. However, the problem arose when Tems took her seat, and the headpiece that circled around her head and shoulders obstructed audience members' view of the stage. Since the headpiece was undetachable, anyone sitting directly behind the singer had their view blocked. However, Tems appeared unfazed by the inconvenience her dress caused and had the time of her life as an Oscar debutant. 

But the people on the internet have hawk eyes. They immediately noticed other artists who struggled to take a peak from behind her, and voila, her gorgeous dress became the subject of outfit-related Oscars jokes that have been doing the rounds. One particular moment stands out when in a video, a woman who sat right behind the Nigerian singer tries to glance behind the billowing headpiece, attempting to see the stage. Twitterati went into a frenzy and shared memes of Tems and her unusual dress. @JarrettBellini posted a photo and wrote, "Imagine waiting your whole life to be at the Oscars and you end up sitting behind a stratus cloud." 

The Bellini tweet garnered 22.2 Million views and over 123k likes. Another tweet by @GRadioRockstar suggested a more reasonable option to Tems for next year's Oscars and commented, "Yen yen yen next time get a front row seat." It makes sense. A particular moment in the video that stole the limelight was posted by a Twitter user @mrmedina and captioned, "I am crying. Tems got that lady fighting for her life." The tweet received over 827k views. 

Although meme-makers left no stone unturned in trolling Tems and her dress, some argued that the Oscars is a strange spectacle and other celebs have donned weird dresses for the event over the years. A Twitter user, @EniafeMomodu, commented, "Who exactly did Tems block? She IS the view." Another tweet by @ulxma stated, "Tems is the topic. I don't care if it's in a positive or negative light. She is the topic, and that is all that matters. Sorry to everyone else."  A tweet by @T_nsofor justified her large headpiece, saying it's part of Nigerian tradition: "Thank you @temsbaby for honoring Nigerian gele fashion with your dress in a new and fresh way." Well, Tems' dress must be lauded for becoming such a hot topic of Oscars discussions.