Snubbed!
Every year since the Academy Awards were invented, someone has been overlooked, ignored, overlooked, ignored or eliminated. You know what they say about beauty and beholders.
But perceived Oscar omissions — snubs, as we call them — have become a fun annual conversation, with people left off the nomination list, or nominated but denied a statue, sometimes getting attention, or more, like wins. “Barbie” is nominated for eight Academy Awards, but Greta Gerwig’s exclusion from the best director lineup is the headline (never mind that she’s in the running for adapted screenplay). The academy and ABC, which will air the Oscars on March 10, are promoting the show with commercial direct referencing the passing
“I know a few of you are crazy about the Oscars,” Judd Apatow, host of this year’s Directors Guild of America Awards, said from the stage. “I know how you feel,” he continued, pointing out that he was overlooked for “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up” and “Trainwreck.”
He explained: “I’ve never been mentioned in articles about people being snubbed. That’s a double snub! Next time, I’ll hire a publicist just to be mentioned in articles about who got duped — a snublicist.”
Snubs can be a serious matter. Cries of #OscarsSoWhite from 2015 and 2016, spurred by an all-white slate of acting nominees, led the academy to diversify its membership.
But Apatow’s teasing also had some truth to it: In many ways, the rise of the snub can be traced to Hollywood publicists and modern Oscar electioneering.
Studios are always campaigning for the Oscars. In the 1990s, however, Harvey Weinstein turned stalking into a blood sport. The game has evolved to include squadrons of publicists who, starting months before the ceremony, whisper in the journalists’ ears about which actors, directors, writers and other artists are leading the way. Pundits pontificate. Articles are written, and the rankings are posted on sites like Gold Derby. Fans continue the conversation on X and Instagram.
It creates expectations.
“The proliferation of so many other awards and honors and telecasts has also created a sense that there’s room for everyone,” said Dave Karger, a host of Turner Classic Movies and author of “50 Oscar Nights.” Karger said he hates the word “snub,” which makes deletions “seem like a personal attack, when it’s really just math.”
Because vote counts are secret, added Tony Angellotti, a veteran publicist and awards campaigner, “we don’t know how close someone is to being a nominee or a winner.” (Fun fact: The Variety magazine online archive goes back to 1913. In a search, “snub,” related to an award, first appeared in 1965: “Bob Hope Stunned by Another Emmy Snub.” It did not appear again until 1993.)
Some people in Hollywood regard the snubs as the invention of a clickbait-focused news media. “I think it’s tawdry to play the snub game!” film historian Sam Wasson said in an email. “Not everyone wins. Not everyone is nominated. It causes a lot of anger — mostly from those who aren’t in the movie business.”
However, as soon as the Oscars wrap up on Sunday night, you can be sure that Hollywood phones will start ringing with gleeful schadenfreude. Can you believe so and so lost? Snubbed.
