The Oscars may have gone down without nearly as much drama as last year’s slap heard ‘round the world, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any controversy!
Fans are now battling it out over whether or not Angela Bassett’s reaction to losing the Best Supporting Actress trophy to Jamie Lee Curtis was rude or totally justified!
If you missed it, on Sunday night, the 64-year-old actress won her first Academy Award for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. In winning the award, the Halloween alum beat out her own co-star Stephanie Hsu, as well as several other big hitters like The Whale’s Hong Chau, The Banshees of Inisherin‘s Kerry Condon, and, of course, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Angela Bassett.
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Throughout the entire award season, it’s been a tight race between Jamie and Angela. The award is particularly noteworthy for the latter since it’s the first time an actor from a Marvel movie has been nominated for an Oscar for their role in a superhero film. The prestigious show typically doesn’t acknowledge MCU performances to the same degree as other film’s stars. Naturally, many folks were hoping Angela might get her flowers for her powerful performance, but when it came down to it, she didn’t snag as many votes as the True Lies alum.
As the winner was read aloud, Jamie quickly looked shocked AF! But it was another person’s expression that caught most people’s attention! Opposed to tradition, Angela made NO effort to look happy for the winner, instead, she simply looked down and frowned. Check it out:
Oof.
You can tell the loss stung! Unfortunately, she probably wasn’t pleased to look on social media and see so many people attacking her for her so-called disrespectful attitude toward the loss. Twitter lit up with frustrated commentary as trolls called the 9-1-1 star “shady” and a “sore loser” for looking “crushed” at the announcement, complaining:
“Regardless of who you think should’ve won, it was poor on Angela Bassett’s part to just sit there miserably when Jamie won and not be happy for her. Had Angela won, Jamie would’ve been clapping for her. She knew very well her reaction was being played on live television”
“Angela Bassett is one of my favorite actors. However, I did not like her reaction to not winning. It made her look unprofessional and sour. I was disappointed by her not winning, but more disappointed by her reaction.”
However, many others thought the actress was perfectly right to be upset! As Perezcious readers know, the show has often been slammed for its lack of diversity in the past. In fact, there’s only ever been one Black woman to win Best Actress — Halle Berry in 2001. So, it’s not hard to see why viewers not only thought it was high time for another fierce Black performer to take home an award, but also justified given her performance as a grieving mother. The defenders chimed in:
“Angela Bassett’s reaction was perfect. [Zora Neale] Hurston wrote ‘if you’re silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.’ Angela was snubbed. Again. Black women are regularly overworked, underpaid, devalued, disrespected & Ignored. Tonight that pain was palpable. Good.”
“Angela Bassett should’ve won #Oscars I’m glad she didn’t fake a reaction to entertain idiots telling us how a Black woman should handle Hollywood once again throwing awards at White women. I like Jamie Lee Curtis but she didn’t outperform Angela Basset or Stephanie Hsu #Oscar2023”
“Angela Bassett is allowed to be visibly disappointed that she didn’t win the Oscar”
“I actually appreciate that Angela didn’t put on a face for the sake of being a ‘good sport.’”
Angela Bassett was snubbed! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/0FCLGptWYB
— mcu reactions & clips (@reactmcu) March 13, 2023
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Others went on to point out that Kerry, who also didn’t win, wasn’t too thrilled either:
“Silent disappoint[ment] doesn’t equate to rudeness. Also, everyone wants to talk about Angela Bassett’s reaction & yet they ignore Kerry Condon literally mouthing the words ‘WTF’ when Jamie Lee Curtis’ name was called. Double standards.”
That said, many users clapped back, saying the actress actually exclaimed, “oh, wow.” Either way, for a split second she, too, was disappointed – and can you blame her?! They’ve all worked so hard for this moment! It’s natural to be a little sad when your name isn’t called. Not everyone thinks the Freaky Friday alum would’ve been so happy if she’d lost either. When Angela took home the Golden Globe in January for the same category, Jamie looked equally upset, according to one person who pointed out:
“I didn’t see y’all talking s**t back then”
Despite the backlash, we’d say Angela kept her composure! Sure, she wasn’t quick to clap, but at least she didn’t have an outburst like Will Smith! Thoughts?! Do U think she was snubbed? Sound OFF (below)!
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