Actor Leonardo DiCaprio single-handedly broke the Internet on Oscar night. After conquering his now-immortalized history of snubbed Oscars and taking the award for best actor for his performance in The Revenant, the world (including Twitter, Reddit and other mega social media sites) went absolutely wild. Until this point, DiCaprio’s extensive past involving the Academy Awards had been an ongoing joke. Memes of his unfortunate and cruel fate circulated around the Internet for years. Now, after finally achieving one of his lifelong dreams, both he and the Internet can relax. At the hands of DiCaprio, the meme is dead.

This was by no means an easy feat; DiCaprio has gone through a ridiculous amount of nominations, including the best actor in a leading role in the once highest-grossing movie of all time, Titanic. No other man or woman has more so deserved the chance at the famed Oscar than good ol’ Leonardo. Including the previously mentioned Titanic, DiCaprio has been involved in many critically acclaimed films such as the bizarre The Aviator, the raunchy black comedy The Wolf Of Wall Street and even the gripping thriller Shutter Island. Over the years, DiCaprio has proven to be a versatile actor who can play next to anything. In one moment, he’s a cruel and clever plantation owner in Django Unchained. In the next, he’s a near-silent frontiersman fighting for his life in the deathly cold wilds in The Revenant.

So why did the Academy finally recognize DiCaprio? This answer is a bit more complicated than it seems. While a huge majority of it is due to his superb acting as Hugh Glass in The Revenant, a certainly significant portion of it is due to the wonderous directing of Alejandro González Iñárritu (known for his Oscar-winning movie Birdman) and the equally powerful role of Tom Hardy as a brilliant supporting actor. These two elements combined with DiCaprio’s on-point acting and his determination to do literally whatever it takes to accurately play his character (Yup, that bison liver he ate raw was real). Fueled by the Internet’s undying wish to see DiCaprio win an Academy Award for once, The Revenant skyrocketed in popularity and almost undeniably pressured the Academy to give the lifelong actor a second glance. When he eventually did receive the award, he was graciously given an ample amount of time for his long-awaited acceptance speech.

His victory marks a point of liberation for the actor, now free of his past torments to pursue more adventurous and bolder endeavours in acting. Wherever his future lies, we can comfortably say that his former demons have been laid to rest. Rest easy, DiCaprio. You deserve it.