“The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression,” Penn said, per Variety, at the Marrakech Film Festival in 2024, where he was receiving a career tribute award, “and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions.”
Award ceremonies such as the Oscars were “television shows first,” he said, rather than true barometers of where the culture of filmmaking is at. “So I don’t I get very excited about what we’ll call the Academy Awards,” he added, “[except for] when a film like The Florida Project or I’m Still Here, or, you know, Emilia Perez, of the things that are likely to happen this year.”
So, even though he was likely to happen this year, Penn decided to walk the walk and put his cigarette where his mouth was—somewhere else.
But so far, everyone else has shown up to accept one Oscar after another at the 98th Academy Awards. Here’s the complete winners list:
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