Bono takes part in surprise meet and greet with director Ava DuVernay

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ABC/Paula Lobo; ABC/Adam TaylorOprah Winfrey arranged the meet and greet of a lifetime for her close and dear friend, acclaimed film director Ava DuVernay, who’s a huge U2 fan. In an Instagram post on Sunday, Winfrey shared a video showing Duvernay hugging Bono on a couch.

“My dear friend @ava LOOOVES Bono,” Winfrey wrote, captioning the video. “So as a Birthday, Christmas, Easter, Forever gift I surprised her with the help of [U2 manager Guy Oseary] with tickets to concert and meet and greet afterwards in Nashville! Sweet moment.”

DuVernay later shared an image of her and Bono, adding a message about how the singer has inspired her for years.

“I have loved Bono and U2 since I was a girl,” she began. “I’ve been guarded and guided by their work in many moments of my life. I first learned about human rights and activism, not through Martin Luther King as he was blandly taught in school, but through the passion of Bono’s voice singing of the civil rights icon in the song PRIDE.”

She continued, “I named my first narrative film, I WILL FOLLOW, after their song that meant so much to me and my Aunt Denise…who first introduced me to their music. I played their song BAD on the day I buried her and it helped me lift my head as I drove to the funeral, like a balm for my wounded heart.”

After sharing her thoughts on her favorite U2 song, 1983’s “Drowning Man,” DuVernay offered a special thanks to Winfrey.

“My true thanks to all who made the moment possible, especially my friend @Oprah, who knows my heart and that this would make it shine and shimmer and sing,” she wrote. “It did. In more ways than I can express. It’s a beautiful day.”

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