Texas teen suspended for not cutting his dreadlocks walks Oscar red carpet

A teenage boy in Texas who is barred from walking in his high school graduation ceremony until he cuts his dreadlocks took a different kind of walk on Sunday — one down the Oscars red carpet.

DeAndre Arnold, 18, was placed in in-school suspension at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu for refusing to cut his dreadlocks, McClatchy News reported.

School officials said the issue wasn’t with DeAndre’s dreadlocks, but with their length; his hair isn’t allowed to touch his collar per the school dress code.

While DeAndre consistently wore his hair — which is a nod to his Trinidadian heritage — tied up, school officials said that wasn’t good enough, McClatchy News reported. It would need to be cut so that it doesn’t touch his collar when worn down.

While the fate of his graduation walk still hangs in the balance, the creators of Academy Award-winning animated short film “Hair Love” stepped in to give DeAndre a special night out at the Oscars.

“Hair Love” was directed by Matthew A. Cherry and is the six-minute story of an African American dad learning how to do his daughter’s hair, KXAS reported.

Cherry, with the help of actress Gabrielle Union and her husband NBA star Dwayne Wade, sent DeAndre and his mom Sandy a video inviting them to the awards show.

“We’ve all been so inspired by your story and this is the very least we can do to thank you for standing up for yourself and for your right to wear your natural hair at school,” Cherry said in the video posted to Twitter.

The “Hair Love” team also provided a red carpet-worthy wardrobe and “glam for the big night,” Cherry said.

KTRK’s Chauncy Glover documented the hours leading up to DeAndre’s red carpet debut. After a suit fitting and trip to the hair stylist, DeAndre took to the red carpet looking dapper as ever in a green suit with his dreads on full display.

“Hair Love” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short that night and when Cherry took the stage, he gave Deandre a shout out.

“We wanted to normalize black hair,” Cherry said in his acceptance speech. “There’s a very important issue that’s out there, it’s the CROWN Act. And if we can help to get it passed in all 50 states it will help stories like DeAndre Arnold’s, who’s our guest tonight, stop happening.”

CROWN is an acronym for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” and the act seeks to prevent discrimination based on hair texture and styles, CNN reported.