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Even though Chris Rock was able to make jokes about Will Smith slapping him at last year’s Oscars during his live Netflix special earlier this year, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, good friend Leslie Jones said the effects of that on-stage assault were much deeper than the public has seen.
“That s–t was humiliating. It really affected him,” Jones told People magazine in an interview promoting her new memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones (featuring a forward from Rock). “People need to understand his daughters, his parents, saw that. He had to go to counseling with his daughters.”

Jones said the incident “infuriated” her when she watched Rock get slapped hard across the face by Smith during the awards ceremony. “You don’t know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there,” she said. “I was so f–king mad on so many levels.” The former SNL cast member and stand-up comedian said that for a long time she was just mad about the incident in which Smith — who would win a best actor Oscar later in the night for his starring role in the Williams family tennis biopic King Richard — stormed the stage and assaulted Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Chris Rock did a f—ing joke,” Jones said of Rock’s quip. I know Will, too… I was like, you couldn’t handle that s–t afterwards. This is the Oscars. The whole world is watching.”

On the night of the incident, Smith leapt from his seat and slapped Rock hard across the face after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which, Rock later said, he was not aware was a result of the singer/actress’ struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that can cause hair loss and balding.

When she talked to Rock about the incident later, Jones said she asked the fellow stand-up why he didn’t just run away when he saw Smith charging at him. “‘I would’ve been running around that stage like “Will, calm down. Jada, call your man!,’” Jones said, adding that she also wished that Smith had reacted to the moment differently. (It did not appear as if People reached out to Smith or Rock’s camps for comment.)

“He could have still fixed it,” she said of Smith, who was back on stage a short time later to accept his best actor award. If Jones had her way, Smith would have offered an immediate, heartfelt apology to Rock, along the lines of: “‘I shouldn’t have did that. Bring Chris out. I can not accept the Oscar right now because that was f—ing wrong.’”

Instead, during his acceptance speech, Smith issued a mea culpa of sorts for his actions earlier in the night — without mentioning Rock — with the comedian later declining to press charges. Following a more formal apology to Rock, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which banned him from attending any Academy events for 10 years; Smith is still eligible for future Oscar nominations and will keep the award he won in 2022.

Sean Penn likes to get straight to the meat of the matter. And the actor/director does just that in a new Variety interview in which he calls 100% b.s. on the reaction to Will Smith‘s infamous slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, which was held just weeks after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Penn, whose documentary on his friend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Superpower, is due out on Monday (Sept. 18), gets “f—ing furious,” in fact, when telling reporter Stephen Rodrick, “the Oscars producer thought, ‘Oh, he’s not light-hearted enough?’ Well, guess what you got instead? Will Smith.”

Fully aware that his perennial pugnaciousness has often made it hard to appreciate him, a red-faced Penn laid out his exact feelings about the refusal to give former-sitcom-star-turned-heroic-wartime-president Zelenskyy a moment to speak during the ceremony; Smith — who would win a best actor Oscar later in the night for his starring role in the Williams family tennis biopic King Richard — stormed the stage and assaulted Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair.

“I don’t know Will Smith. I met him once,” Penn said. “He seemed very nice when I met him. He was so f–king good in King Richard… So why the f–k did you just spit on yourself and everybody else with this stupid f–king thing? Why did I go to f–king jail for what you just did? And you’re still sitting there? Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?”

Penn, 63, spent 33 days in county jail in June 1987 for punching an extra on a movie set and for reckless driving and received a 90-day suspended sentence and $50 fine for two charges of assaulting two journalists who were attempting to photograph him and then-wife Madonna, as well as three years of probation and 300 hours of community service in 2010 after another run-in with a photographer.

“This f–king bulls–t wouldn’t have happened with Zelenskyy,” Penn fumed. “Will Smith would never have left that chair to be part of stupid violence. It never would have happened.”

On the night of the incident, Smith jumped up from his seat and slapped Rock hard across the face after the comedian made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which, Rock later said, he was not aware was a result of the singer/actress’ struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that can cause hair loss and balding.

During his Oscars acceptance speech, Smith issued a mea culpa of sorts for his actions earlier in the night — without mentioning Rock — with the comedian later declining to press charges. After a more formal apology, Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which banned him from attending any Academy events for 10 years.

Penn, who has won two best actor Oscars for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), also told the magazine that his only option was to destroy his statues. “I thought, well, f–k, you know? I’ll give them to Ukraine,” he said. “They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians.”

When the Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 23, 2024, we could see two humorous songs in the running for best original song – “I’m Just Ken,” which provides one of Ryan Gosling’s funniest scenes in Barbie, and “Peaches,” which Jack Black sings in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Amusing songs are nominated occasionally in this category. Relatively recent examples include “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), “Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie (2014) and“Blame Canada”from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).

Here are 10 early front-runners for nominations for best original song at the 96th annual Academy Awards. The awards will be presented on March 10, 2024.

Two veteran songwriters, Alan Menken and Diane Warren, are each hoping to collect their 15th nominations for best original song, a benchmark that has been reached by only five songwriters in Oscar history. Menken’s strongest contender is “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Warren has two songs vying for a nod – “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot and “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady. If one is nominated, she will tie the late lyricist Marilyn Bergman as the woman with the most best original song nominations.

And two songwriters, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt, are vying to become EGOT winners. Miranda is competing with the aforementioned “For the First Time” from The Little Mermaid; Platt with songs from Theater Camp.

We’re showing two songs from Barbie – “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” Current Oscar rules state: “No more than two songs from any one film, regardless of writers, may be nominated for the original song award.” Four films in Oscar history have spawned three nominated songs – Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Dreamgirls and Enchanted. None of the songs from the latter two films won the award, which demonstrated the very real risk of a film splitting its votes. In response, a new rule was instated in June 2008 that a film could have no more than two songs nominated.

As a result, the Dua Lipa hit “Dance the Night” and the Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice collaboration “Barbie” (with Aqua) may be squeezed out. “Dance the Night” is a trifle, but it has proven to be a most engaging one — and Lipa is at the level of fame that many previous pop stars were at when Oscar took notice. “Barbie,” which is built around a sample from Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl,” may be ruled ineligible. Last year, the Academy did not consider Doja Cat’s “Vegas” from Elvis, which was built around a sample from “Hound Dog.”

A little more than four months remains in the eligibility year. Songs from a few upcoming films – Trolls Band Together, Wonka and The Color Purple – could also be contenders. Trolls Band Together, due Nov. 17, is the third installment in the Trolls franchise. Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from the first Trolls was nominated in this category seven years ago.

Wonka is due Dec. 15. Neil Hannon, lead singer of The Divine Comedy, contributed original songs for the film. The first Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) did not spawn a best song nominee, though “The Candy Man” became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Sammy Davis Jr. and “Pure Imagination” was covered by several artists, including Lou Rawls.

A remake of The Color Purple is due on Christmas Day. Siedah Garrett, a two-time Oscar nominee for best original song (for “Love You I Do from Dreamgirls and “Real in Rio” from Rio), teamed with Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell to write the songs for the film. If one of them is nominated, Garrett will become the third Black songwriter, following Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie, to land three best original song nominations. Jones and Richie collaborated with the late Rod Temperton on “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from the original 1985 film, which was nominated in this category.

Here are 10 early front-runners for best original song nominations.

“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie

Producer Janet Yang was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s board of governors, the Academy announced on Tuesday (Aug. 1).

Yang is the fourth woman to serve as president of the Academy. Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis was the first in 1941, though she resigned after just two months in the post. Fay Kanin served from 1979-83; Cheryl Boone Isaacs reigned from 2013-17.

Yang is beginning her second term as president and her fifth year as a governor-at-large, a position for which she was nominated by sitting Academy president David Rubin in 2019 and elected by the board of governors in 2022.

Yang’s film producing credits include The Joy Luck Club, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Zero Effect, High Crimes, Dark Matter, Shanghai Calling and the Oscar-nominated animated feature Over the Moon.  She won a Primetime Emmy in 1995 for the HBO film Indictment: The McMartin Trial, which was voted outstanding made for television movie. A member of the Academy’s producers branch since 2002, Yang previously served on the board as vp and chair of the membership committee and, prior to that, the membership and governance committee.

Also elected to officer positions by the board:

Bonnie Arnold, vice president (chair, membership committee)

Howard Berger, vice president (chair, museum committee)

Brooke Breton, vice president (chair, education and outreach committee)

Tom Duffield, vice president/treasurer (chair, finance committee)

DeVon Franklin, vice president (chair, equity and inclusion committee)

Lynette Howell Taylor, vice president (chair, awards committee)

Howard A. Rodman, vice president/secretary (chair, governance committee)

Kim Taylor-Coleman, vice president (chair, history and preservation committee)

Howell Taylor and Taylor-Coleman were re-elected as officers.  It will be the first officer stint for Berger, Breton, Duffield and Rodman. Arnold previously served as an officer in 2019-20 and Franklin in 2021-22.

“I am thrilled to welcome this year’s board officers,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. “Under Janet’s esteemed leadership, these dedicated governors will guide the Academy’s ongoing efforts to elevate the work of our global membership and film community, highlight our industry’s rich history, foster meaningful dialogue and continue to build equity and inclusion in every aspect of our organization.”

The board of governors sets the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health and assures the fulfillment of its mission.

Board members may serve up to two three-year terms (consecutive or non-consecutive), followed by a two-year hiatus, after which eligibility renews for up to two additional three-year terms for a lifetime maximum of 12 years.  Officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.

Mahyar Abousaeedi – Turning Red, Incredibles 2

Tom Berkeley – An Irish Goodbye, Roy

Toni Bestard – Background, Foley Artist

Kimberley Browning – Certified, Waiting for Ronald

Alex Bulkley – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Hell and Back

Bruno Caetano – Ice Merchants, The Peculiar Crime of Oddball Mr. Jay

Dean Fleischer Camp – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Catherine

Kenneth A. Carlson – Diner Formal, Dating Avi

Trent Correy – The Godfather of the Bride, Drop

Joel Bryan Crawford – Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Croods: A New Age

Claire Dodgson – Minions: The Rise of Gru, Despicable Me 3

Fabian Driehorst – Night, The Chimney Swift

David DuLac – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Happy Feet Two

Maureen Fan – Namoo, Crow: The Legend

Tiffany Frances – Dot, Hello from Taiwan

João Gonzalez – Ice Merchants, Nestor

Sara Gunnarsdóttir – My Year of Dicks, The Pirate of Love

Mark Gustafson – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Travis Hathaway – Incredibles 2, Brave

David Jesteadt – Inu-oh, Belle

Daniel Mark Jeup – Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2

Thomas Jordan – Lightyear, Up

Charlie Mackesy – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Ian Megibben – Lightyear, Soul

Cyrus Neshvad – The Red Suitcase, The Orchid

Jaime Ray Newman – Skin, Life, Unexpected.

Richard O’Connor – My Friend Nearly Killed Patti Smith, Marianne

Lachlan Pendragon – An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, The Toll

Jesús Pimentel Melo – Miramelinda, Un Bel Morir

Emmanuel-Alain Raynal – Steakhouse, Easter Eggs

David Ryu – Luca, Coco

Nidia Santiago – Negative Space, Oh Willy…

Mónica Santos – Between the Shadows, Amélia & Duarte

Nelson Shin – Empress Chung, The Transformers: The Movie

Eirik Tveiten – Night Ride, Other Lives

Nathan Warner – Encanto, Zootopia

Ross White – An Irish Goodbye, Roy

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Iconic actress Angela Bassett will be honored with an Oscar at an upcoming ceremony, ending years of missing out.
On Monday (June 26th), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the 64-year-old veteran performer would receive an honorary Oscar at the upcoming Governors Awards. Director, writer, and actor Mel Brooks will also be receiving an Oscar at the event along with film editor Carol Littleton. The award is meant “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to the Academy.”

“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” said Academy President Janet Yang in the announcement. “Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting.”

Bassett had been recently nominated at this year’s Academy Awards for her role as Queen Ramonda in Wakanda Forever, the 2022 sequel to Black Panther. That nomination for the best supporting actress was her second in the category, and it made her the first actor from a Marvel Studios film and the first woman from a superhero film to be considered. The seven-time Emmy Award winner had previously been nominated for Best Actress portraying the late Tina Turner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It.
The news of the honorary Oscar did garner reactions from some who felt that it was the Academy’s way to try to cover up her not being awarded a competitive Oscar for her work. Journalist Jerome Trammel pointed this out in a post on Twitter, writing: “The Academy Awards wanting Angela Bassett to accept an honorary Oscar is insulting. She BEEN earned it authentically & they’re trying to clean up the fact that racism runs deep in that show’s process. Calling it honorary leaves a stain that she didn’t get it by “their” standards.”

Last year, Michael J. Fox was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, with honorary Oscars going to director Euzhan Palcy, songwriter Diane Warren, and director Peter Weir. The 14th annual Governors Awards will take place on November 18th in Los Angeles, California. The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10th, 2024.

Photo: Getty

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The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has approved new requirements for Oscar eligibility in the best picture category. The new requirements, announced Wednesday (June 21), are designed to to broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria. They take effect with the 97th Academy Awards, which will be presented in […]

At the Oscars in February 1954 (see photo accompanying this list), Disney won four Oscars – best documentary feature (The Living Desert), best documentary short subject (The Alaskan Eskimo), best cartoon short subject (Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom) and best two-reel short subject (Bear Country). No one else had ever won more than two awards in one night.

On accepting his fourth award of the night, for Bear Country, Disney joked, “I’ve just gotta say one more word. It’s wonderful — but I think this is my year to retire.”

Happily, he did not retire. In the remaining 12+ years of his life, he opened Disneyland, launched an Emmy-winning TV series (initially called Walt Disney’s Disneyland) and co-produced the beloved film musical Mary Poppins.

Runners-up, with three Oscars in one night, are (listed chronologically): Billy Wilder (The Apartment, 1961), Marvin Hamlisch (The Way We Were, The Sting, 1974), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Part II, 1975), James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, 1984), James Cameron (Titanic, 1998), Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004), Ethan Cohen and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men, 2008), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 2015), Bong Joon-Ho (Parasite, 2020) and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023).

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Source: Bobby Bank / Getty
In a move we’re sure no one asked for, veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss defended the use of blackface and revealed his true feelings on diversity and the Oscars.

While appearing as a guest on PBS’ The Firing Line, the new criteria by the Academy Awards for eligibility for Best Picture come 2024 came up for discussion by the host, Margaret Hoover. Nominated films are required to meet four benchmarks: 30% of the cast and 30% of the crew must be from an under-represented group are two of the criteria needed. Dreyfuss stated, “They make me vomit.”

When asked why, the Jaws actor replied: “This is an art form. It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art. No one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is.” He then went on to add: “And what are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. And you have to let life be life.”
Dreyfuss then praised Sir Laurence Olivier’s portrayal of the tragic Shakespearean hero Othello – while in blackface – in the 1965 film adaptation of the play. “He played a Black man brilliantly,” the 75-year-old told Hoover. “Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man? Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice?”
Hoover responded with a query: “Do you think there’s a difference between the question of…who is allowed to represent other groups…and the case of blackface explicitly in this country given the history of slavery and the sensitivities around Black racism?” To that, Dreyfuss replied, “There shouldn’t be…. Because it’s patronizing. Because it says we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt. We have to anticipate having our feelings hurt, our children’s feelings hurt. We don’t know how to stand up and bop the bully in the face.”
Dreyfuss’ defense of blackface seems on-brand given his previous role in the 1986 film Moon over Parador. The interview follows another moment of questionable thinking for the Close Encounters of the Third Kind actor where he slipped off a chair while being interviewed in April by late-night host Bill Maher for his Club Random podcast. Watch the full interview below.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced Monday (May 1) that Wednesday, Nov. 1, will be the final submission deadline in the two music categories for the upcoming 96th annual Academy Awards – original score and original song.
The Board of Governors also established two submission deadlines for general entry categories. Submission deadlines are Sept. 15 (for films released from Jan. 1 to June 30) and Nov. 15 (for films released from July 1 to Dec. 31). Several other film categories will also have two submission deadlines.

In the best picture category, inclusion standards requirements, which were approved by the Academy’s board of governors in 2020, will take effect for the 96th Oscars. Eligibility will be contingent upon submission of the Representation and Inclusion Entry Form (RAISE) and the film meeting the requirements of at least two of the four inclusion standards. For more information on the inclusion standards, visit raise.oscars.org/home.

Other awards rules changes include:

The international feature film category rules now stipulate that selection committees must be comprised of at least 50% filmmakers (artists and/or craftspeople).

In the live action short film category, voting privileges will be extended to all Academy members who opt in to participate.

The Academy’s board of governors also approved campaign promotional regulations. The new rules specify how film companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such films, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion films, achievements and performances. The Academy is calling it the most significant overhaul of campaign promotional regulations since the inception of these rules in 1994.

Substantive updates and changes of note include: Clarification of rules regarding private events and gatherings; clarification of rules regarding general and direct communications to Academy members; clarification of rules regarding public communications, including on social media.; clarification of rules for For Your Consideration screenings, Q&A sessions and panel discussions; and expanded language on regulation violations and penalties, including the process for reporting and reviewing a violation.

Submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:

Tuesday, Aug. 15: First submission deadline for the animated short film, documentary feature film, documentary short film and live action short film categories

Friday, Sept. 15: First submission deadline for the animated feature film and general entry categories

Monday, Oct. 2: Final submission deadline for the documentary feature film and international feature film categories

Monday, Oct. 16: Final submission deadline for the animated short film, documentary short film and live action short film categories

Wednesday, Nov. 1: Final submission deadline for the music (original score) and music (original song) categories

Wednesday, Nov. 15: Final submission deadline for the animated feature film and general entry categories

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024: Visual effects nominating screening (bake-off)

Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024: Makeup and hairstyling nominating screening and sound nominating screening (bake-offs)

For the complete 96th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.