Oscar producers are facing backlash after telling nominees they must attend the ceremony in person and are not allowed to give their acceptance speeches remotely via Zoom next month during the Academy Awards.
The rules for this year’s Oscars ceremony is “causing headaches” for nominees and their publicists, who would be coming from international locations, according to a report by Deadline. One source with scores of nominees currently located all around the world told the publication the cost of hotel stays for two weeks or more — including the required 10 days of quarantine — will “bankrupt” their entire budget.
Oscar attendees were recently informed by the show’s producers that those who are “unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about travelling” will not have “an option to Zoom in for the show.”
Moreover, some nominees are currently working, meaning if they were to attend the Oscars, they could have to shut down their productions for nearly all of April due to quarantine rules that now come with traveling internationally.
The United Kingdom, for example, is about to charge a £5000 (or $6,800) penalty for travelers who are caught violating quarantine for any reason other than urgent business, or medical visits. Therefore, many nominees and their publicists are mulling over whether it’s worth it to return to Hollywood in order to attend the Oscars next month.
One publicist told Deadline that they don’t know what to do, given that they have an editing nominee in Greece, a filmmaker in Paris, an acting nominee in England, another in an “undisclosed” location — which isn’t Los Angeles.
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