This year’s Oscars In Memoriam left out two VERY notable late Hollywood legends: James Van Der Beek and Eric Dane! And people are MAD!
At the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, Billy Crystal, Rachel McAdams, and Barbra Streisand took the stage to lead the In Memoriam tribute to Rob and Michele Reiner, Diane Keaton, Robert Redford, and so many other legendary actors who passed away within the last year. But for some reason, Dawson’s Creek’s Dawson Leery and Grey’s Anatomy’s McSteamy were left off the board! Watch:
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On X (Twitter), fans were quick to rush in to criticize the Academy for the snubs:
“WTF? They were all apart of the acting community and they DESERVED to be recognized. This is so gross in every sense of the term.”
“Why were they excluded?”
“That’s actually pretty surprising. The In Memoriam segment is meant to honor people who shaped the industry, so leaving out names like that feels like a miss.”
“Maybe they need to hire someone who is more informed to be in charge of this segment.”
“if the oscars can find ten minutes for an opening skit, they can find five seconds for a photo of eric dane. leaving him out just because he did more tv than movies is such a tired, elitist excuse”
“It’s impossible to include everyone, but it stings when familiar faces are missing. Eric Dane and James Van Der Beek were part of so many childhoods and memorable moments. Sending love to their families.”
Others, however, pointed out that James and Eric were more known for their TV roles as opposed to feature films:
“Well, Oscars are about the movies, no? I thought the ‘In Memoriam’ segment was supposed to focus on Oscar-related participants?”
“These are actors that were widely known for their roles in television rather than film. It makes sense they weren’t included.”
“They are daytime actors not motion pictures ones”
Fans have since pointed out others left out of the tribute, including Robert Carradine, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Julian McMahon, and Brigitte Bardot.
In response, a representative for the Academy told TMZ they received hundreds of requests for the segment, but because of limited time, executive committees representing each craft have final say on who should be included.
Do YOU think James and Eric should have made the cut? Let us know in the comments down below!
