Academy Reviewing Oscar Rules After Online Campaign For Andrea Riseborough
Andrea Riseboroughâs recent Oscar nomination has delighted fans â and seemingly perturbed the Academy.
On Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a review of its own campaign policies to determine if voting guidelines âwere violated,â per People. While it didnât name her, the news came just three days after Riseboroughâs unexpected nod for best actress.
âIt is the Academyâs goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner,â the Academy said in a statement obtained by multiple outlets.
âWe are conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this yearâs nominees, to ensure that no guidelines were violated,â it continued, âand to inform us whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication.â
Though Riseborough had already received an Independent Spirit Awards nod for âTo Leslie,â a drama centered on an alcoholic single mother at the end of her rope, most Oscar analysts â and Riseborough herself â hadnât considered her a front-runner for best actress this year.
Should Andrea Riseborough's Oscar nod be rescinded, only four nominees would remain for best actress.
âIâm astounded,â she told Deadline shortly after the nomination. âIt was so hard to believe it might ever happen because we really hadnât been in the running for anything else. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea it might actually happen seemed so far away.â
Many of Riseboroughâs peers â including Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Christina Ricci â had taken to social media before the voting period concluded to successfully lobby for her nomination. Ricci was the most prominent star to double down after the review was announced.
âSeems hilarious that the âsurprise nominationâ (meaning tons of money wasnât spent to position this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being met with an investigation,â she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, per Deadline.
However, Variety noted that an official âTo Leslieâ Instagram page may have violated Academy guidelines two weeks ago. A since-deleted post quoted film critic Richard Roeper likening the performances of Riseborough and Cate Blanchett, who is nominated for her work in âTĂĄr.â
According to the rules, âany tactic that singles out âthe competitionâ by name or titles is expressly forbidden.â (Incidentally, Blanchett used her Critics Choice Awards win earlier this month to praise Riseborough.)
Whatâs more, the guidelines only allow movie studios to purchase one email blast per week to promote their films â but the âTo Leslieâ campaign sent at least three to voters, Variety reported.
Should the Academy rescind Riseboroughâs nomination, just four competitors would remain: Blanchett (âTĂĄrâ), Michelle Yeoh (âEverything Everywhere All at Onceâ), Ana de Armas (âBlondeâ) and Michelle Williams (âThe Fabelmansâ).
The 95th Academy Awards will air March 12 on ABC.