Another year, another award season as the Oscars gear up to go down this evening. There hardly seems to be a year that goes by without its own set of controversies, though, and the ones present this time are rather heavy as the war in Ukraine carries on.
Oscar hosts and former winners alike are calling for the Academy Awards to feature Ukraine’s President in the show somehow, with some threatening to boycott should that not happen, and encouraging others to do the same.
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Two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn is making quite the threat just days before the yearly award show.
He’s calling for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be featured somehow, broadcasting him in to share a message, an idea that Oscars co-host Amy Schumer also seemed to be in favor of.
Should that not happen? Well…
If Zelensky is snubbed from the show, he’s not only calling for a general boycott of the Oscars, but he’s threatening to melt his own statues in protest.
He shared these thoughts during an interview with CNN this past Saturday as they were discussing his humanitarian work in Europe, where he and his crew are helping offer aid to Ukrainian refugees.
He notes that some people believe that politics have no place in the Oscars.
He says he agrees with this sentiment in some ways, but that this situation is much different, and war is a much more important issue that needs to be discussed with the public.
In regards to Zelensky being broadcast, he says that there is “nothing greater that the Academy Awards could do than to give him that opportunity to talk to all of us.”
The rumors are already circling about whether or not the Ukrainian President will get to speak.
Both he and Amy Schumer have suggested in interviews that Oscars producers have already decided to not feature Zelensky, but there’s no way to know for sure until the show tonight.
Either we’ll be seeing Zelensky amid the awards, or we’ll be seeing Penn smelt his own statues, quite the show either way.
h/t: TMZ
