Yesterday, Gary Oldman predictably won the Best Actor Oscar for for his prosthetic-heavy portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. It followed a slew of wins across almost every awards ceremony this season, including the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, so when his name was called out yesterday it was more of an inevitability than any kind of glorious surprise.
(My main dudes Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya? Straight up robbed.)
But it raised some questions for just how seriously the Academy takes the #TimesUp movement. It might have expelled Harvey Weinstein, but yesterday it awarded not one but two suspected abusers: Oldman, and Kobe Bryant.
Oldman’s ex-wife Donya Fiorentino, who claims Oldman was physically and emotionally abusive towards her throughout their four year marriage, put these questions to the Academy yesterday.
“Congratulations, Gary, and congratulations to the Academy for awarding not one, but two abusers with Oscars,” she told TMZ. “I thought we had evolved. What happened to the #MeToo movement?”
In 2001, Fiorentino accused Oldman of chocking her and beating her with a phone in front of their children. “As I picked up the phone to call the police, Gary put his hand on my neck and squeezed,” she alleged, according to the New York Daily News. “I backed away, with the phone received in my hand. I tried to dial 911. Gary grabbed the phone receiver from my hand, and hit me in the face with the telephone receiver three or four times. Both of the children were crying.”
Oldman denied the allegations, and no charges were filed, but he’s managed a total Oscars campaign without answering awkward questions about the abuse.
The second alleged abuser awarded yesterday was NBA star Kobe Bryant for his animated short, Dear Basketball. He was accused of rape in 2003 by a then-19-year-old Colorado hotel worker. The case was dropped after his accuser refused to testify, but Bryant later issued a statement saying that “after months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”
https://twitter.com/KrystieLYandoli/status/970522371424751616
When the Academy booted Weinstein in October last year, it said that it did so “not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues, but also to send a message that the era of wilful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behaviour and workplace harassment in our industry is over.”
Might be worth re-sending the memo to its voting members then, hey.
Still, let’s not forget to celebrate the little wins: Ryan Seacrest might have been the most protected man at the Oscars yesterday after reporting for E! despite sexual harassment allegations, but he was avoided by damn near every single celebrity like an over-spray tanned bad smell.
Ryan Seacrest is about the fourth spot on the carpet. His team was not pleased when I took a photo of him. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/6s9HC8GGT1
— Amy Kaufman (@AmyKinLA) March 4, 2018
To speak to someone about issues surrounding domestic violence, sexual assault or sexual harassment, please call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
