Every year, there are a few Academy Award winners that cause a bit of a stir, especially when a lot of people agree that another nominee should have won.
So I want to know if you think these 17 “controversial” Oscar winners deserved their trophies.
1.
At the 2021 Academy Awards, Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock for making an insensitive joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Later that night, Will took home Best Actor for King Richard. He was banned from the ceremony for 10 years, but they didn’t rescind his award.
2.
In 2023, Judy Chin, Adrien Morot, and Annamarie Bradley won Best Makeup for their work on The Whale. Many felt the award was a “win” for anti-fatness because they put lead actor Brendan Fraser in a fat suit and prosthetics for the movie.
3.
In 2023, Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Many viewers felt that her award was more for her legacy in the industry than for her EEAAO performance, and they expressed their disappointment that the Oscar didn’t go to her costar Stephanie Hsu (who played a much bigger role) or to Angela Bassett for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (Angela also has a long Hollywood legacy and played her role while mourning the on- and offscreen death of costar Chadwick Boseman.)
4.
In 2006, Crash won Best Picture, surprising many people who predicted the honor would go to Brokeback Mountain. Crash is widely considered the “worst Best Picture winner ever.”
5.
In 2019, John Ottman won Best Film Editing for Bohemian Rhapsody. Many viewers joked it should have been awarded for “Most Editing” instead, especially due to a particular scene that went viral for its shockingly frequent cuts.
6.
In 1993, Marisa Tomei won Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny. Her win has long been plagued by rumors that her name was called by mistake.
7.
In 2019, Green Book won Best Picture. The movie itself was criticized for allegedly exaggerating the story of Don Shirley, a Black concert pianist, and Tony “Lip” Vallelonga, his white driver (whose son cowrote the script), and for perpetuating the “white savior” stereotype. Spike Lee, whose movie BlacKkKlansman was also up for Best Picture, tried to walk out when the winner was announced, but ushers stopped him. In the pressroom, he said, “The ref made a bad call.”
8.
In 2013, director of photography Claudio Miranda won Best Cinematography for Life of Pi. The win was considered controversial because the film utilized digital effects at length. Cinematographer Christopher Doyle even called it an “insult to cinematography.”
9.
In 1977, Rocky won Best Picture, unexpectedly beating out other films like Taxi Driver, All the President’s Men, and Network. It was so unexpected, in fact, that when his name was called, Sylvester Stallone wasn’t even wearing his tie.
10.
In 1991, Kevin Costner won Best Director for Dances With Wolves over frontrunner Martin Scorsese. At the time, the Goodfellas director had yet to win an Oscar, which many felt was already long overdue.
11.
In 1999, Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture over the frontrunner, Saving Private Ryan. Many have attributed the win to the intense promotional campaign that producer Harvey Weinstein ran both in the press and behind the scenes (a game Steven Spielberg reportedly wasn’t willing to play).
12.
Also in 1999, Gwyneth Paltrow won Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love. Her unexpected win continues to be remembered as controversial. In 2020, Glenn Close told ABC News’ Popcorn With Peter Travers, “I remember the year Gwyneth Paltrow won over that incredible actress [Fernanda Montenegro] who was in Central Station and I thought, What? It doesn’t make sense.”
13.
In 1995, Forrest Gump won Best Picture. To this day, many people argue that the award should’ve gone to the underdog Pulp Fiction (or even The Shawshank Redemption) instead.
14.
In 2016, Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini, and Christopher Nelson won Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Suicide Squad. Regardless of the merit of their work, many people joked about the fact that the widely panned movie “has more Oscars than” some celebrated directors, “snubbed” movies, or the entire MCU (at the time).
15.
In 1990, Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture. However, its win caused controversy because many viewers felt that Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing did a much better, more authentic job of tackling race relations in the US, and they were disappointed that it wasn’t even nominated. While presenting at the Oscars, Kim Basinger said, “We’ve got five great films here, and they’re great for one reason: because they tell the truth. But there is one film missing from this list that deserves to be on it, because ironically, it might tell the biggest truth of all ― and that’s Do the Right Thing.”
16.
In 2011, The King’s Speech won Best Picture over frontrunner The Social Network, which many consider to be one of the best movies of the 21st century.
17.
And finally, in 1942, How Green Was My Valley won Best Picture over Citizen Kane, which is widely considered the greatest movie ever made.
