The Oscars Won’t Rescind Andrea Riseborough’s Nomination

“The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded."

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Andrea Riseborough will remain one of this year’s Best Actress nominees for her performance in the indie film To Leslie.

Bill Kramer, the CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, made the announcement Tuesday, saying that concerns surrounding the campaign last week did not warrant the possibility of Riseborough’s nomination being rescinded.

The Academy announced on Friday it would conduct a review of the campaign procedures for this year’s Oscar nominees. Riseborough’s nomination confused some people who wondered how she had landed a Best Actress spot without a traditionally heavily funded campaign.

“The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded,” Kramer wrote in the statement shared with BuzzFeed News. “However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.”

On Jan. 26, Puck reported that Mary McCormack, the wife of To Leslie director Michael Morris, “emailed and called tons of members of the Academy’s actors branch, begging them to see the little-watched alcoholic drama and post online about Riseborough’s searing performance.”

BuzzFeed News has reached out to representatives for Riseborough and McCormack for comment on the Academy’s ruling. Riseborough has not publicly addressed the review. 

In his statement, Kramer added that the changes regarding campaign rules will be made after this year’s Oscars season and will be shared with Academy members to “help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning.” 

“The Academy strives to create an environment where votes are based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible films and achievements,” he said.

Eduardo Cisneros, a producer for To Leslie, said that he hopes the new guidelines support smaller movies.

“As a producer of indie films and as a queer Latino man, I hope these new guidelines are able to give [Academy] members an opportunity to champion lesser known films, while at the same time keeping their privacy and well-being safeguarded," Cisneros said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.

Over the past few days, actors like Marc Maron and Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci defended Riseborough’s nomination. According to Deadline, Ricci, in a now-deleted Instagram post from Friday, criticized the idea that only actors and filmmakers who spend a lot of money campaigning should receive nominations.

“Seems hilarious that the ‘surprise nomination’ (meaning tons of money wasn’t spent to position this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being met with an investigation,” Ricci wrote, per Deadline. “So it’s only the films and actors that can afford the campaigns that deserve recognition? Feels elitist and exclusive and frankly very backward to me.”

The Best Actress category also caused outrage this year after Viola Davis (The Woman King) and Danielle Deadwyler (Till) did not receive nominations. Both were nominated for Critics Choice Awards and Davis received a Golden Globes nod, though Riseborough did not receive nods at either awards show. 

At the Oscars, which will air March 12 on ABC, Riseborough will compete for Best Actress against Ana de Armas (Blonde), Cate Blanchett (Tár), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

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