Robert Downey Jr. Is Being Called Out For His “Lack Of Class” After He Appeared To “Blatantly Ignore” Ke Huy Quan While Accepting His Oscar

“He literally handed him the award with the biggest smile on his face and Robert blatantly ignored him. You can be the biggest star yet have zero humility and grace.”

By
Ellen Durney
by Ellen Durney

BuzzFeed Staff

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Much to fans’ delight, last night’s Academy Awards saw former winners return to individually introduce each nominee in the four acting categories. However, the revival of the beloved format didn’t come without a few awkward moments.

Five women onstage at an awards ceremony, with their images onscreen behind them showing their past wins
Rich Polk / Variety via Getty Images

As was expected, Robert Downey Jr. took home the award for Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer, and he was met on the stage by five past winners: Sam Rockwell, Tim Robbins, Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, and last year’s winner, Ke Huy Quan.

RDJ holding his Oscar and standing with the five past Best Actor winners
Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images

If you follow the Oscars, you’ll know it’s tradition for the last person who won the award to hand it over to the new recipient. However, Ke Huy and Robert didn’t quite have the sweet moment fans had been hoping for.

Mahershala Ali hugging RDJ onstage as Christoph and Key Huy smile and look on
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
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After Ke Huy called his name, RDJ took to the stage and retrieved the Oscar without so much as making eye contact with the former winner, who looked thrilled to be presenting him with the statue.

RDJ receives an award onstage from Ke Huy while the others applaud
ABC / Via youtu.be

Instead, Robert made a direct beeline to shake hands with Tim Robbins and fist-bump Sam Rockwell, while Ke Huy was left holding on to the envelope that he’d attempted to hand over.

In his speech, RDJ made no mention of Ke Huy, other than thanking the “fellas” onstage behind him. And it wasn’t long before fans picked up on the awkwardness, with viewers accusing him of showing “a real lack of class” toward his predecessor.

RDJ in a suit holding an Oscar onstage
Rich Polk / Variety via Getty Images

“Okay I’m so glad I’m not the only one who noticed this,” one person wrote on X, noting that it ruined what should have been a special moment. “I get this is RDJs moment but it’s Ke Huy’s too. It’s important for an actor to pass on their win to the next and he was the most ignored person of the 5 up there.”


“Grabbed it with one hand without making eye contact lmao,” observed someone else.


“That was disappointing, it spoiled the moment for me,” echoed another.

Among those asking why RDJ would “blatantly ignore” Ke Huy were a ton of people who said they felt even more disappointed because of how excited the former winner was, only to be left hanging.

Ke Huy smiling at RDJ onstage and presenting the Oscar statuette to him
Rich Polk / Variety via Getty Images

“the more i see it the angrier i get because ke huy quan called his name with such pure excitement and appreciation and then he does this,” one person wrote.


“He literally handed him the award with the biggest smile on his face and Robert blatantly ignored him,” another added. “You can be the biggest star yet have zero humility and grace.”


“Remember ke huy’s enthusiasm after winning last year? Really makes you miss that,” recalled someone else, referring to Ke Huy’s emotional reaction to winning for Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023.

Some people defended Robert by suggesting he may have been “overwhelmed” and “flustered” in the midst of such a major moment. However, plenty of others drew comparisons to the way that Cillian Murphy — a first-time nominee and winner — accepted his award for Best Actor with “warmth and respect” by individually shaking hands with each of the presenters onstage.

Cillian smiling onstasge in a tuxedo with a bow tie giving a thumbs-up
Rich Polk / Variety via Getty Images

“HIM BEING THE NICEST AND MOST POLITE MAN IN THE WORLD SHAKING EVERYONE’S HAND,” one clip of Cillian was captioned on X, amassing over 35,000 likes.


“I was little disappointed RDJ didn’t do that,” someone replied.

Funnily enough, the awkward interaction comes only a month after Taylor Swift was accused of similarly snubbing Céline Dion at the Grammys in February while she accepted the award for Album of the Year.

Taylor onstage holding a Grammy with Céline and other people, camera crew in background
Christopher Polk / Billboard via Getty Images

However, just like with Taylor and Céline, pictures of RDJ and Ke Huy embracing after the win quickly surfaced online, reassuring fans that there were no hard feelings.

Ke Huy and RDJ in formal suits smiling and shaking hands
Handout / Getty Images

You can watch Robert’s full Oscar acceptance speech here.

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