The Oscar Awards is almost here, and what better way to get ready for it than to reminisce about the most outrageous and shocking winning moments that happened in the past years.
While some names and titles are already taking up space and garnering unanimous votes, there will be controversial results that will go down in history, just like these Academy Award winners.
Will Smith
The comedian-actor has always been a crowd favorite, and his Best Actor win for the biographical sports drama King Richard at the 94th Academy Awards in 2022 was supposed to be a glorious moment. But, just before he was announced as the winner, the infamous Oscar slap shocked the entire world.
The award-giving body was criticized for letting Will Smith receive his award and remain inside the theater after his scandalous encounter with host Chris Rock. He was given a 10-year ban from attending the event, though being announced as the winner after all that fiasco even made the event more shocking than ever.
Green Book
Peter Farrelly’s Green Book won the votes of the jury at the 91st Academy Awards, beating Alfonso Cuarón’s critically acclaimed project Roma for the Best Picture.
The latter received ten impressive nominations which made it a strong contender for the much-coveted category. The controversy lies in the Academy’s decision to snub Roma since it is a Netflix film.
Shakespeare in Love
The 1999 Oscars event was marred with so much controversy after John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love effortlessly beat Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan for the Best Picture category.
The epic war film was a major frontrunner at the event after receiving eleven nominations, and its loss against Gwyneth Paltrow’s period romantic comedy became Oscar’s biggest upset. Industry pundits speculated that the movie’s victory was attributed to the awards campaign led by Harvey Weinstein.
The King’s Speech
David Fincher’s The Social Network was both a cult-classic favorite and critically acclaimed film, even earning an impressive 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but its loss against Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech for Best Picture and Best Director became the talk of the town at the 83rd Academy Awards.
The Social Network is considered one of the greatest movies of the 21st century, so choosing a historical drama over a relevant biographical film ended up creating a negative buzz within the Oscars.
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanksi has become a notorious name in Hollywood after he was accused of s*xual assault and statutory r*pe. Surprisingly, the Oscars still gave him a Best Director award for his work on The Pianist.
He was not able to attend the event since he already fled from the US. It was only in 2018 when the Academy expelled Polanski from his membership.
Robert Redford
Martin Scorsese is a staple name in the Oscars, so it was a shocker when Raging Bull lost the Best Director award to Robert Redford’s Ordinary People. The win was a turning point in the latter’s career as it is a feature directorial debut.
