Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has yet again been denied stage time at the Oscars. Zelensky had hoped to address the awards show remotely after he was featured in several other award shows, but the Academy rejected the proposal. The probable reason for this denial is the academy’s desire to be seen as a non-political entity. Allowing its stage to be used for furthering the Ukrainian cause would have meant the Academy is not a non-partisan institution.
Notably, the President of Ukraine had, last year as well, expressed his desire to speak at the Oscars which was declined. Although he has managed to appear virtually in multiple award shows including the 64th Grammy awards.
Oscars 2023 will be held on March 12 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. This is the second year in a row that Zelensky’s request to speak at the Oscars has been declined. Volodymyr Zelensky’s team has engaged Mike Simpson, a top agent at William Morris Agency-Endeavor, to convince film festivals and award shows to let the Ukrainian president address the events.
“For the past year, Volodymyr Zelensky has been greeted with open arms by awards shows, film festivals, and even the New York Stock Exchange. But when it comes to landing airtime on the most coveted telecast of all — the Oscars — the Ukrainian leader is being met with a cold shoulder. For the second year in a row, the Academy has snubbed Zelenskyy, who was hoping to follow up his Berlin Film Festival (remote) appearance last month with a virtual spot on Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC. Sources say WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined to comment” a report published by Variety said.
For the second year in a row, the Academy has snubbed Zelenskyy, who was hoping to follow up his Berlin Film Festival (remote) appearance last month with a virtual spot on Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC. https://t.co/WwRUhDjeod
— Variety (@Variety) March 10, 2023
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Zelenskyy appeared via video-link at both the Cannes and Venice film festivals as well as at the Grammy Awards and virtually rang the Opening Bell of the New York Stock Exchange too. At the Golden Globes in January, Zelensky was introduced by Sean Penn, where Zelensky repeated his message that Ukraine will win the war against Russia and applauded the free people of the free world who were supporting the Ukrainian people.
It is notable that Sean Penn along with Aaron Kaufman is the director of a documentary titled Superpower, which is based on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The documentary was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
But not everyone is on the same page with giving Zelenskyy more airtime. Last year, Oscars producer Will Packer stopped a Zelensky appearance. Packer voiced his concerns that Hollywood was only showering Ukraine with attention because those affected by the conflict are white. On the other hand, Hollywood has ignored wars around the globe that impact people of color, he argued. Like the Academy, the organisers of Toronto Film Festival also declined a request from Zelenskyy to appear via satellite.
Ukraine and Russia have been at war for more than a year now. In 2014, Russia captured Crimea from Ukraine and has been controlling it ever since. The war started after Russia felt provoked by Ukraine’s inclination to join NATO which is largely an anti-Russia coalition of western nations. Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago and the battle is being fought on Ukrainian soil. Ukraine has received immense support from the west but the support is gradually fading. Ukraine has seen massive losses in men and territory.
