Academy Nixes Oscars Plan After Backlash

Decision reversed on not showing 4 awards live
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2019 7:05 AM CST
Academy Nixes Oscars Plan After Backlash
An Oscar statue is pictured at a press preview for the 91st Academy Awards Governors Ball on Friday in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Twitter tweeted, A-listers revolted, and now, the Academy has acquiesced. A decision to not show live four awards (those for cinematography, film editing, live action short, and makeup and hairstyling) during the Feb. 24 broadcast received much pushback since it was announced earlier this week, and now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has done a 180 on it—meaning, as the New York Times puts it, "so much for a three-hour telecast."

"The Academy has heard the feedback from its membership," the group said in a statement, per Variety, which notes the reversal came after a Thursday night meeting with cinematographers. "All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday." A source tells the magazine that the Academy was baffled about the controversy, as its members had seemed OK with the decision during a vote last summer. (More Oscars stories.)

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