The Academy Awards — also referred to as The Oscars — is an award ceremony that celebrates artistic and technical merit in the film industry. The award show is iconic and has been going for many decades. Yet in spite of all the great material they have recognized, there have been several Academy Award snubs that we are still, to this day, mad about.
The actual trophy itself was sculpted by George Stanley from a design sketch by Cedric Gibbons. The long gold statue award is still the biggest honor to be awarded for those in the movie industry. However, not everyone deserving has one.
The Academy Awards ceremony was first broadcasted by radio in 1930. Over 20 years later, it was televised for the first time in 1953. It remains the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony. The show is seen as such a big deal that it is now televised live worldwide each year.
When the nominations are first announced each year, people always have something to say about it. Over the years, some truly impressive people and films were highlighted. Meanwhile, others were completely snubbed! Whether that be nominated acts that didn’t win in their category or original scripts, top movies, and others who didn’t even get a nomination.
Here are some of the biggest Academy Award snubs that we believe stand out and should be recognized as winners. Some, at the very least, should have been nominated.
Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
[Image via Glamour]
- 2020: Best Supporting Actress
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Last year, Jennifer Lopez played the role of Ramona Vega in Hustlers and received a lot of praise for her part. As the reviews kept coming in, it was said several times that Lopez could be nominated for her first Academy Award.
Business Insider reported that she gave a career-best performance. They went on to say that there had been serious discussion about how Lopez deserved to be recognized for her work as a great actress for some time.
Sadly, the “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” chart-topper didn’t earn herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination after all the hype. Her Academy Award snub was named as “easily one of the biggest Oscar snubs in 2020” by Indie Wire. The publication also noted that she has yet to earn herself a nomination from The Academy.
However, 2020 hasn’t gone off to a bad start for Lopez as she performed during the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Shakira.
Beyonce – Spirit
[Image via NME]
- 2020: Best Original Song
At the ceremony, they also give out awards to those who sang an original song that was part of the film.
Last year, Beyonce produced the soundtrack for Disney’s remake of The Lion King. The “Crazy In Love” songstress also stared in the film and played Nala. One of the standout tracks, “Spirit” was snubbed for Best Original Song and Rolling Stone remarked that this was a bad decision on their part.
Had Knowles been nominated, she would have probably attended the ceremony and performed the song. Not only that but “Spirit” was also very impactful as a standalone song.
Currently, on YouTube, the music video has more than 54 million views. Despite the Academy Award Snub, the song was recognized at the Grammy Awards this year and was nominated in the categories of Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Mary J. Blige – Mudbound
[Image via Entertainment Weekly]
- 2018: Best Supporting Actress
- Allison Janney won for “I, Tonya.”
Mary J. Blige had tipped her toes into acting previously but had yet to make an impact. When she stared in 2017’s Mudbound playing the role of Florence Jackson, she proved how multitalented she really is. The R&B legend earned herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination in 2018 but ended up losing to Allison Janney for her part in I, Tonya.
According to BBC, Blige made history as she became the first person ever to be nominated for an acting performance and an original song in a single year.
Blige’s Academy Award Snub was unfortunate. The singer was the underdog in the category and it would have been great to see her take home the trophy for that reason alone. However, the real reason she should have won was that she played a very convincing part.
Mean Girls
[Image via The New York Times]
- 2005: Best Actress / Best Supporting Actress
- Hilary Swank for “Million Dollar Baby” & Cate Blanchett for “The Aviator” won.
In 2004, one of pop culture’s most famous and popular chick flicks was released, Mean Girls. The film has proved its relevancy over the years with its iconic one-liners, merchandise, and its own Broadway show. The movie had so many stars that stood out throughout the film who were worthy of a nomination.
Firstly, Lindsay Lohan nailed her part as the main character, Cady Heron, as well as Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, and Tina Fey who also impressed fans and critics with their roles. Mean Girls was likely not nominated by The Academy because they probably didn’t take it seriously and thought it would be too much of a joke.
As the years have gone on, its impact has proven otherwise. Unfortunately, the Academy Awards snub a lot of comedy type films, despite their acclaim and success. At the very least, this deserved a Best Original Screenplay nomination for Tina Fey.
Glenn Close – Fatal Attraction
[Image via Paramount Pictures]
- 1988: Best Actress
- Cher won for “Moonstruck”
As noted by Syracuse, Glenn Close has yet to win an Academy Award. The iconic actress was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Alexandra Forrest in Fatal Attraction but ended up losing to Cher for her part in Moonstruck.
There is no denying that Cher is a talented actress. Moonstruck may be a fan favorite but the pop icon has stared in better films. Films like Mask and Mermaids stand out big time here. Meanwhile, Fatal Attraction is one of Close’s best ever and has become an iconic film.
This Academy Award Snub is one of many for Close who deserves more than one award for her brilliant work over the past few decades.
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Judy Garland – The Wizard Of Oz
[Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]
- 1940: Best Actress
- Vivien Leigh won for “Gone with the Wind”
In 1939, Judy Garland played the role of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz who is one of the most recognizable characters in all of cinema.
When it down to The Academy Awards the following year, Garland didn’t receive a single best actress nomination due to her age. However, she was honored with the Academy Juvenile Award. While that was somewhat flattering, she should have still been nominated in the acting categories and taken home a trophy. Specifically Best Actress.
Dorothy is one of the most iconic roles from one of the most iconic movies. Her Academy Award snub is a strange one because she was only awarded the Juvenile Award because of her age. Had they allowed her to be nominated for Best Actress, she would have taken it and could have potentially become the youngest winner.
Both films actually had the same director, Victor Fleming. He also won Best Director for Gone with the Wind too. While both are incredible movies, Wizard of Oz was screwed over to prop up the incredibly long Gone with the Wind film.
Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born
[Image via Pinterest]
- 2019: Best Actress
- Olivia Coleman won for “The Favourite”
The next Academy Award snub goes to Lady Gaga for her role as Ally Maine in A Star Is Born which exceeded everyone’s expectations. She was nominated for her impressive performance at both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, but she lost each time.
The “Poker Face” entertainer had previously stared in America Horror Story but had yet to have a lead role in a big-screen movie.
Gaga lost her Best Actress award to Olivia Coleman who stared in The Favourite. There is no denying that Coleman played a great part. However, Gaga captured the emotion of Ally really well and had a really convincing on-film romance with Bradley Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine.
Along with the film, its soundtrack was huge and won lots of huge awards. This included an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Shallow.”
If there was any film in 2018 and 2019 that had everyone talking, it was A Star Is Born.
E.T.
[Image via Amblin Entertainment]
- 1983: Best Picture
- “Gandhi” won
E.T. earned itself an impressive nine Oscars but its Academy Award snub was for Best Picture. Losing out to “Gandhi,” its director, Richard Attenborough, even admitted himself that E.T. should have won at the time.
“I was certain that not only would E.T. win but that it should win. It was inventive, powerful, [and] wonderful. I make more mundane movies,” he said.
E.T. ended up winning four awards but none of them were in the main categories. To this day, the movie remains a classic and makes an impression on newer generations. It’s clear that E.T. is one of the biggest Academy Award snubs ever.
However, a lot of films were better than Gandhi anyway.
Pulp Fiction
[Image via Medium]
- 1995: Best Picture
- “Forrest Gump” won
In 1995, Forrest Gump ended up beating Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction for Best Picture.
While both films are classics, Pulp Fiction should have taken it if you ask us.
Pulp Fiction earned itself seven nominations and only ended up winning one award — Best Original Screenplay. The other Academy Award snub it faced was John Travolta not winning Best Actor. Instead, Tom Hanks took home the trophy, who played the lead in Forrest Gump.
Syracuse believes that if the movie was up any other year, Tarantino would have easily been awarded an Academy Award for the same category.
Al Pacino – The Godfather
[Image via writeforhireweb]
- 1973: Best Supporting Actor
- Joel Gray won for “Cabaret.”
One of the biggest Academy Award Snubs has to be when Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and James Caan, who all stared in The Godfather, all earned themselves a nomination for Best Supporting Actor and still didn’t win. The trio all lost to Joel Gray in Cabaret which may come to a surprise for some.
With a number of the cast being nominated within one category in the same year, that proved how great the cast was for that film.
According to the Oscars website, The Godfather ended up winning Best Picture while Marlon Brando took home Best Actor. This is further proof that the film was worthy of all the awards.
Tiffany Haddish – Girls Trip
[Image via Vanity Fair]
- 2018: Best Supporting Actress
- Allison Janney won for “I, Tonya.”
As this list previously stated, Mary J. Blige lost out to Allison Janney in 2018 for Best Supporting Actress. However, Tiffany Haddish was completely snubbed and didn’t receive even as much as a nomination for her breakthrough role in Girls Trip.
Haddish immediately made headlines as people were shocked they she didn’t receive any love from The Academy. When talking about her Academy Award snub, Tiffany told Entertainment Weekly that she appreciated all the love.
“I really, really appreciate it. It validated all the hard work I’ve been doing over all these years. It lets me know that I really am on the right track, people approve of me, the fact that they wanted me to have that award or be nominated means so much and it just makes me want to work harder, so I can continue to entertain the masses.”
The reaction to the snub proved that Haddish was worthy. Comedy films often don’t receive the attention they deserve at a lot of film award ceremonies. Unfortunately for Girls Trip, it didn’t earn a Golden Globe nomination either. Sure, this is one of the biggest Academy Award snubs ever but the lack of recognition by major awards makes it one of the biggest Award Snubs ever!
Call Me By Your Name
[Image via PopSugar UK]
- 2018: Best Picture
- “The Shape Of Water”
Call Me By Your Name became Timothee Chalamet’s breakthrough movie that propelled him to stardom. The coming-of-age romantic drama was based on the novel of the same name and really resonated with fans. Chalamet was one of the many actors who shined in the film.
He really captured the essence Elio Perlman and earned himself a Best Actor nomination but lost to Gary Oldman for his role in Darkest Hour.
Chalamet was more than worthy of Best Actor but the film should have seriously won Best Picture.
According to the Observer, when it screened at Alice Tully Hall as part of the New York Film Festival, it received a 10-minute ovation and had everyone feeling emotional. The heartfelt movie connected with its audience and had everyone talking about it.
Call Me By Your Name only won Best Adapted Screenplay. While being recognized at all is terrific, most felt it was the Best Picture this year. To us, that makes Call Me By Your Name one of the biggest Academy Award Snubs ever.
Janet Jackson – Again
[Image via Billboard]
- 1994: Best Original Song
- Bruce Springsteen – “Philidelphia” won
Janet Jackson played the role of Justice in the 1993 movie Poetic Justice alongside Tupac Shakur. The performing sensation didn’t receive any nominations for her acting but did bag herself one for the Best Original Song category, so it wasn’t a complete Academy Award snub.
“Again” is taken from Jackson’s fifth studio album, “janet.,” and also featured in the film. The track was a commercial success around the world and was a chart-topper on the U.S. Billboard 200.
The popular ballad ended up losing to another legend, Bruce Springsteen, for “Streets of Philadelphia” which was taken from the “Philidelphia” soundtrack.
Jackson’s song was a bigger hit than Springsteen’s and remains one of her signature songs, making this one of the biggest Academy Award snubs known. There is no denying that “Streets of Philadelphia” is a great track but it is slightly forgotten in his back catalog.
Sufjan Stevens – Mystery Of Love
[Image via Sony Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures]
- 2018: Best Original Song
- Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s “Remember Me” Won.
Call Me By Your Name is an emotional film and has an incredible soundtrack to go along with it. The standout song is “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens which earned itself a Best Original Song nomination. The acoustic track also became Stevens’ first song to get a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
Ultimately, it was beaten by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s “Remember Me” taken from Disney’s Coco. Even though “Remember Me” is a touching song, “Mystery of Love” managed to capture the mood of the whole film effortlessly.
As far as the Best Original Song category goes, this one of the more unfortunate Academy Award snubs.
Leonardo DiCaprio – Titanic (And Pretty Much Every Other Year He Lost)
[Image via Paramount Pictures & 20th Century Fox]
- 1998: Best Actor
- Jack Nicholson won for “As Good As It Gets”
It is safe to say that Titanic was huge in 1997 and was a blockbuster smash. Leonardo DiCaprio played the lead role of Jack alongside Kate Winslet who played Rose. The legendary film won most of its 13 nominations, including Best Picture.
Winslet was even nominated for Best Actress but DiCaprio was snubbed completely and wasn’t recognized as an individual.
It seems very odd as to why he faced an obvious Academy Award snub as he was just as much a standout in the film as Winslet. It all remains a mystery. This would not be the last time Leo was screwed by the Academy Awards.
He has been nominated 7 times for an Oscar, putting out major hits in movies like Wolf of Wall Street, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, and The Departed. DiCaprio also had impressive supporting roles in movies like What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Django Unchained.
He was even nominated for a 2020 Academy Award due to his impressive performance in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
Leo has won 3 Golden Globe Awards but finally won his lone Academy Award in 2016 for his incredible performance in The Revenant. Yet everyone knows he deserved one long before.
However, not even being nominated for movies like Titanic among others like Catch Me If You Can, The Great Gatsby, J. Edgar, Inception, Body of Lies, and Shutter Island make us wonder what the Academy is smoking sometimes.
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