And the award for above-board Oscar campaign goes to Andrea Riseborough
The Academy will not rescind Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar nomination for To Leslie
“For your consideration” are three of the most expensive words in Hollywood. Studios spend millions on pleading with everyone in the Academy to consider Babylon. These campaigns can cost as much as the films they’re supporting, with Variety reporting that some campaigns cost as much as $30 million to run in multiple categories. When someone sidesteps this process, it’s a problem.
It should be no surprise that people were annoyed by Andrea Riseborough’s last-minute Best Actress nomination for her acclaimed performance in To Leslie. Studios spent a fortune on billboards for Wakanda Forever, and Joe Mantegna ruined it by taking a break from tweeting about Criminal Minds to plug To Leslie. After the nominations went out, the Academy launched a review into this apparent miscarriage of awards season justice. Thankfully, the Academy has declined to rescind To Leslie’s only nomination.
“The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.”
Mantegna’s screwed.
“Given this review, it is apparent that components of the regulations must be clarified to help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning,” Kramer’s statement continues. “These changes will be made after this awards cycle and will be shared with our membership. The Academy strives to create an environment where votes are based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible films and achievements.”
The tactics used by To Leslie were mainly coming from fellow actors championing Riseborough’s work on social media. The Hollywood Reporter notes, “Among those who did indeed praise Riseborough’s work on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram were Susan Sarandon, Helen Hunt, Zooey Deschanel, Mira Sorvino, Constance Zimmer, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan Cumming and Riseborough’s Birdman co-star Edward Norton.” Kate Winslet called the Riseborough’s turn “the greatest female performance onscreen I have ever seen in my life.” Others, including Winslet, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Anniston, Courteney Cox, Minnie Driver, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Amy Adams, hosted events, screenings, and Q&As for the movie, the Hollywood Reporter continues. Is that much worse than inundating people with a relentless multimillion-dollar campaign? The Academy doesn’t seem to think so—probably because free screenings for potential voters are part of any awards campaign.
We can tell you one thing: many people who never would have seen To Leslie are now going to, which is the point of these awards anyway.