The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not happy with a bunch of A-list celebs after they campaigned to get Andrea Riseborough, the lead of a film pretty much no one watched, nominated for the Oscars.
Riseborough snagged an Oscar nomination for indie drama To Leslie, which only made a measly $27,000 in the box office, after a heap of stars publicly backed her and conducted a left-field social media campaign to get her recognised.
“Based on concerns that surfaced last week around the To Leslie awards campaign, the Academy began a review into the film’s campaigning tactics,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement.
“The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded.
“However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.”
So, basically, Riseborough will get to keep her Oscars nom, but the celebrities who helped her get it are going to get a stern talking to.
so you’re telling me the acting branch of the academy has had the power to push through overlooked performances like andrea riseborough this whole time and yet they did NOTHING for these two?? pic.twitter.com/Yj5fZTbY0j
— noah (@homoah) January 24, 2023
ICYMI, The Academy reviewed Riseborough’s nomination after “concerns” the film had been a bit dodgy in terms of how it got nominated. It’s been accused of essentially bypassing the Academy’s meticulous nomination process to score a nom through industry connections.
To Leslie had pretty much no budget for an awards campaign so its makers got it uploaded onto the Academy’s screening portal themselves. Riseborough and the director of the film Michael Morris leveraged their connections with Hollywood icons, scoring screenings by big dogs like Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Gwenyth Paltrow, Charlize Theron and Edward Norton, to name a few.
Then, in the days just before nominations closed, a social media campaign led by the above and other huge celebs like Jane Fonda, Kate Winslet and Laura Dern (just to name a few) garnered heaps of attention and also criticism, with those involved fiercely defending the nom.
To Leslie co-star Marc Maron slammed the Academy on his podcast WTF, where he scathingly called them out for gate-keeping.
“Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences or whatever the fuck it is has decided to investigate Andrea Riseborough’s grassroots campaign to get her the Oscar nomination because I guess it so threatens their system to where they’re completely bought out by corporate interests in the form of studios,” he said.
Christina Ricci also traded barbs with the Academy and implied that To Leslie was being reviewed out of a classist bias.
“Seems hilarious that the ‘surprise nomination’ (meaning tons of money wasn’t spent to position this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being met with an investigation,” she said, per Deadline.
“So it’s only the films and actors that can afford the campaigns that deserve recognition? Feels elitist and exclusive and frankly very backward to me.”
But here’s the thing: as many Black commentators have pointed out online, the very fact that a white woman who was the lead of a film with little viewers could skyrocket to an Oscars nom purely because of her white woman celebrity connections is actually an example of white privilege.
Andrea Riseborough’s performance is amazing, she earned that. My only thing is now that we know that actors can rally like this last minute for a campaign, I’m gonna need Winslet, Aniston, Theron and Paulson to show up like this for WOC in the future. We’re gonna remember this. pic.twitter.com/JqnSYw4iQZ
— Caroline “WGA Captain on Strike” Renard (@carolinerenard_) January 25, 2023
I mean, think about all the incredible Black women, Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler this year for example, who were snubbed from the Oscars despite brilliant performances.
All for a “small movie with a big heart” getting recognition. Yet, it feels weird to have Andrea Riseborough get in after 1 week of famous friends go on IG, while Danielle Deadwyler (also in a “small movie with a big heart”) pounded the pavement for months to wind up snubbed. 👀 pic.twitter.com/gw9OJqTYwk
— Chris James (@cwj92movieman) January 24, 2023
The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag exists for a reason: it has always favoured white actors over everyone else, and the fact that all these white A-List celebrities rallied for Riseborough but have stayed silent when incredible performances by women of colour have been ignored is pretty fkn telling.
https://twitter.com/glacialtide/status/1618401173433888768?s=20&t=ixSGHvFJ2z8BN0q9NCfPIw
Even the outrage around the Academy’s review of Riseborough just shows how much white celebrities are not used to the hurdles people of colour face literally any time they try to get nominated for awards like these.
the whole thing with andrea riseborough has been showing how white people gaslight black people when they callout how systems are rigged against them bc you can play the game correctly and everything will be thrown over for a white person in a way it would never be for you
— addy (@addyvision) January 27, 2023
Especially because none of this drama even cost Andrea Riseborough her nomination.
At the end of the day, no matter the outrage, she’ll still have her name read out. Think about all the equally talented people of colour who won’t because they don’t have the same access or support.
POC will do everything right and get snubbed, while white people can break the rules and keep their noms.
