Explained: Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar Nomination Controversy And The Academy Changing Its Rules
The Academy has allowed the nomination!
The Oscar nominations took place on January 24 and it was quite the moment for India as RRR song ‘Naatu Naatu’ received a nomination for Best Original Song. But recently, the Oscars landed in a controversy for the Best Actress nominations. Cate Blanchett was nominated for Tár, Ana De Armas for Blonde, Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans, Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All At Once and Andrea Riseborough for To Leslie. And Andrea Riseborough’s nomination is the one that led to a controversy. However, after an investigation into the campaign, the Academy has kept the nomination and stated that the issues around the campaign rule breach were not so big so as to rescind the film’s nomination. In case, you’re wondering what happened, here’s everything we know.
The nominations for Actress in a Leading Role go to… #Oscars #Oscars95 pic.twitter.com/W8wKkY7EFQ
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 24, 2023
All About The Controversy Around Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar Nomination
While Andrea Riseborough starrer To Leslie is a lesser-watched film and did not make much more at the box office, the actress’ performance has been hailed by many including critics as well as celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow. Ahead of the Oscar nomination, several celebrities gave Andrea Riseborough a shoutout for her performance in the film even though To Leslie hasn’t been nominated for any of the previously held awards including the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. This is also why the actress’ nomination for the Academy Awards led to questions about the campaign procedures of the Oscars.
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Also Read: Oscars: Michelle Yeoh Bags Maiden Oscar Nomination, First Asian Best Actress Nominee!
Ideally, any films aiming for the Oscars have to campaign for it which requires a separate budget as well as immense visibility which was not the case with Andrea Riseborough starrer To Leslie. Instead, the film was brought to the limelight simply with shoutouts from celebs, film screenings, lunch parties as well as discussions with leading actors like Jennifer Aniston, Amy Adams, Kate Hudson and more. Furthermore, Twitter users went as far as pointing out that the campaign rules of the Academy were seemingly breached by Andrea Riseborough’s film To Leslie.
This movie that I've never heard of that only grossed $23,000 is suddenly being pushed by all these celebrities trying to get Andrea Riseborough a Best Actress nomination by tweeting the same copypasta, this is kind of weird. pic.twitter.com/oXQVWLKsEi
— AlexH (@DryToast2810) January 15, 2023
Soon after the actress was nominated for the Oscars, internet sleuths were quick to dig through social media platforms to point out that not only were most of the shoutouts from celebs copy-pasted but one rule of the Academy campaign has been breached by the film. A screenshot shared by a social media user shows that the Instagram handle of Andrea Riseborough starrer To Leslie had earlier posted a quote from a film critic who had drawn comparisons between Cate Blanchett’s performance in Tár with Andrea Riseborough’s performance in To Leslie while hailing the actress for her role. While the critic has the right to hold an opinion like that and share the same, as per the Academy rules, naming competing films or performances is not permitted during the campaign. And the film breached the rule by using that particular part of the quote for their social media post, even though the post was later deleted.
Update: The Instagram post shared on the #ToLeslie account has been removed following this story.https://t.co/I9mrPMz435 via @variety pic.twitter.com/kvGxM2tpXN
— Clayton Davis (@ByClaytonDavis) January 28, 2023
But chances are that the celebrity shoutout-led campaign may have also breached another campaign rule of the Oscars which prevents the members of the Academy from being directly contacted to encourage them to watch the film or highlight the lead actors’ performance. In fact, some social media posts shared by actress Frances Fisher recommending Andrea Riseborough for the Oscars raised concerns about the film’s campaign.
Also Read: Oscars 2023: Indian Documentaries ‘All That Breathes’, ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ Bag Nominations
What Happened In The Academy’s Investigation?
According to a report by Variety, the Academy received several calls and e-mails with concerns about Andrea Riseborough’s nomination for the Oscars under the Best Actress category for To Leslie. However, no formal complaint was lodged with them. But it did trigger an investigation into the campaign rules. The Academy issued a statement sharing that their aim is to ensure a fair and ethical competition while adding that a probe has been launched to review the campaign procedures of the nominees for the Oscars this year to ensure that no rules were broken. The Academy further revealed that the probe is also aimed at understanding if the campaign guidelines need to be changed taking into consideration the fact that we now live in a digital era driven by social media.
Soon after the investigation and review, the Academy issued a statement on January 31 announcing that Andrea Riseborough starrer To Leslie may have risen concerns but it’s not big enough for the nomination to be rescinded. However, the Academy did reveal that they came across some social media and outreach methods that are rather concerning and are being addressed by them along with the concerned parties.
Also Read: Oscars 2023: ‘Naatu Naatu’ From ‘RRR’ Nominated For Best Original Song. Will We See It On Stage?
The statement issued by the Academy also revealed that the campaign guidelines for the Oscars campaigns are being reviewed and changes will be made to the rules following the awards cycle.
