The 2019 Academy Awards may have made up for its years of neglect towards people of color in last night’s ceremony, but the academy fell short when it omitted some of the most prominent figures who passed away this year in its memoriam.
Every year, we watch our favorite stars grace the stage to accept the awards they’ve worked so hard to achieve. And every year we are reminded of the stars we’ve lost in the Oscar’s annual “In Memoriam” segment.
However, this year, some of the faces we thought we’d see never crossed our screens. While some of us may not have noticed, social media made sure to point out the Oscar’s apparent negligence.
Several viewers got their Twitter fingers ready to list off the numerous names that were missing, including the iconic singer-songwriter #ArethaFranklin, co-director of “Singin’ in the Rain” Stanley Donen, who received an honorary Oscar in 1998 and passed away last Thursday. Others were actress Carol Channing, who was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category in 1968 for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” along with actress Sondra Locke, producer Gary Kurtz, Spongebob creator Stephen Hillenburg and more.
While many were not pleased, John Bailey, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says not everyone will make the cut each year. When Bailey introduced the feature, he mentioned that everyone would not be included. Nevertheless, Twitter was not happy and let it be known.
