There was confusion among the attendees at this year’s Oscars about Al Pacino presenting the Best Picture winner. HOLR breaks down the details!
Al Pacino Oppenheimer Oscar Nominated Movies
Heads were scratching at this year’s Academy Awards as Godfather actor Al Pacino announced the winner of the final award: Best Picture.
Throughout the ceremony, all nominees were announced before the winner was revealed. However, when Pacino announced Oppenheimer as the Best Picture winner, he did not mention the other 9 films nominated.
Alongside Oppenheimer, the other films nominated for Best Picture were American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Maestro, Past Lives, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest.
Instead, after making a brief remark about announcing the night’s final award, Pacino remarked that he “had to go to the envelope” to see who the winner would be, “And my eyes see Oppenheimer,” The sudden announcement left confusion in the audience as attendees paused, then began applauding.
Al Pacino Oscars Statement
As per a related article, Pacino released a statement on Monday explaining the reason for his quick and casual announcement of the winner.
“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them,” the statement read. Pacino explained that, since the other nominees were “highlighted individually” at different stages of the night, and a decision was made “by the producers not to have them said again,” Pacino explained it was his empathy for “those who have been slighted by this oversight” that compelled him to write a statement.
CNN spoke with a production source who confirmed Pacino’s version of events, saying that it was a “predetermined creative decision” but that the actor’s delivery “was just Al Pacino being Al Pacino,”
The confusion is reminiscent of the 2017 controversy where, due to a mix-up of cards, La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner of Best Picture. The real winner of Best Picture was Moonlight.
“Personally I blame Steve Harvey for this,” host Jimmy Kimmel joked at the time.
What was your favorite moment from the Oscars?
Published by HOLR Magazine.
Image Credit: @theacademy Instagram