Before the mind-blowing last few minutes of the 2017 Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel inviting a tour bus group into the Oscars was definitely the highlight of the night. Gary from Chicago and his fiancée Vickie Vines selfie’d their way into every Hollywood star’s heart and were even unofficially married by Denzel Washington. Now, Us Weekly reports that our new favorite internet celebrity, Gary Alan Coe, was released from prison only three days before appearing on the Oscars. Well, that took a quick turn.
In a phone interview with ABC7, Gary admitted he just got out of prison after serving 20 years for “multiple felonies.” However, it seems that he’s definitely changed his ways and is grateful for where he is today. “Change is possible,” Gary said. “It’s a sad day to be in prison for 20 years and not be able to be a dad, granddad to your children…[My son] said he’s proud of me. So to hear your children say that they’re proud of me means the world to me.”
Gary and Vickie met during his sentence (though it’s unclear how), but he says he owes his change to finding both her and religion. Although Chicago staples like the Bulls basketball team reached out to him after he gave the city a shout-out on TV, we’re wondering if this news about Gary will change the internet’s opinion about this latest viral hit.