Emma Stone won Best Actress at the 2024 Oscars for her role as Bella Baxter in Poor Things, and while she gave a sweet nod to Lily Gladstone in her speech, fans still believe the award was given to the wrong person.
Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese was nominated for 10 Oscars, but the one that had everyone sitting at the edge of their seats was the award for Best Actress, because Blackfeet actress Lily Gladstone was nominated — making her the first Native American woman to be nominated for that category.
Gladstone was nominated for her role as Osage woman Molly Burkhart, and the film follows the true story a series of sinister murders in Oklahoma in the 1920s when the Osage Nation was wealthy with oil money.
In the lead up to the awards, it felt like Gladstone’s win was a shoe-in — her performance showed remarkable skill and she swept up at almost every other awards show.
At a time where diversity in Hollywood, and especially at awards shows, is a thorny point of contention and the killing of Indigenous people is at the forefront of conversations all around the world, her win would have been an especially powerful nod to Indigenous actors in general.
However, Gladstone did not win the award — Emma Stone did.
It was clear when watching the Oscars that even Stone was surprised, as she frantically got on stage and was barely able to contain her shock.
In her acceptance speech, Stone pointed to Gladstone and said: “Lily, I share this with you. I’m in awe of you.”
However, fans of Gladstone are bitterly disappointed.
While some fans acknowledged that they still liked Stone’s performance in Poor Things, the key sentiment remained that Gladstone’s performance was the best.
Honestly, at an awards show that aired the quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing”, while remaining silent about the genocide in Gaza, I can’t say my own expectations were very high in terms of its appreciation of Indigenous people and their stories.
At least Gladstone has a Golden Globe for her performance, so she’s not completely without recognition.
Image: Getty.
