Barack Obama and family at his victory speechBrad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey were amongst the hundreds of thousands of Barack Obama supporters in Grant Park, Chicago last night to hear the politician’s victory speech.

Oprah, who has consistently supported Obama’s bid for presidency over the last year, told the BBC that she was delighted with the win because more than anything: “It feels like hope won.

“It feels like there’s a shift in consciousness. It feels like something really big and bold has happened here, like nothing ever in our lifetimes did we expect this to happen.”

Down in Los Angeles, Courteney Cox and husband David Arquette held an Obama victory party at their Beverly Gills home with guests including Jennifer Aniston, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher.

Other celebrities have offered the president-elect their congratulations.

George Clooney is quoted as saying: “I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory, and now it’s time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces.”

Usher added his own thoughts on the historic nature of the election, which sees the first African-American person win the seat in the White House: “This will go down in history, in black history, for all of the sacrifices that the great Joseph Lowery and Martin Luther King made, this actually pays off for their sacrifice. [But] Barack Obama doesn’t represent a color. He represents change.”

Meanwhile dad-to-be Pete Wentz had a personal angle on the victory: “My parents met working for Joe Biden [on one of his earlier campaigns]. If it weren’t for Joe Biden, I would not exist as a human being. … I am proud to be a part of history in the making.”