Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig’s Oscars 2024 Barbie Snubs ‘Wrong on Every Level,’ Says Academy Member (Exclusive)

With the absence of Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s names in the Best Actress and Best Director Oscar categories in 2024, many were left confused and frustrated looking for answers.

According to one member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, this year’s exclusion of Robbie from the best actress category and Gerwig from the best director category is an example of the “ultimate patriarchy”.

Robbie was nominated for Best Picture as a producer on the film alongside Gerwig, who was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay with her husband Noah Baumbach. For his role as Ken, Ryan Gosling was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, along with America Ferrer, who won Best Supporting Actress for her work in Barbie.

But for some, the absences were glaring in the Best Actress and Best Director nominations. “I am saddened that this much-deserved recognition was dismissed because it is wrong on every level,” a source tells PEOPLE.

Oscars expert says Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig Barbie Snubs ‘will be remembered for a long time’ (exclusive)

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The source notes that for the most part, “each category, each branch nominates from its own branch,” except for best picture, which is voted on by all members.

“That’s how nominations work,” adds the source. “Each branch nominates their own branch and everyone votes for the final vote.”

Academy members use preferential ballots over voters’ No. 1 and No. 2 favorites, but still, the source says, given how well the film did on the ballots, it’s not clear “how the algorithm worked that she [Gerwig] didn’t get enough votes for directing.”

The comedy of the film may also have influenced the outcome. “Comedies traditionally don’t do well at the Academy,” says the source. “And this is a movie that, yes, it was a comedy and it made more than a billion dollars. How can you not give credit to the director?”

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“How many female directors have had so many films?” the source asks. “This was a phenomenon.”

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While the source notes that the headline-grabbing criticism was a “horrendous flop,” the nominations showed historic diversity, including Killers of the Flower Moon Best Actress hopeful Lily Gladstone is the first Indian actress to be nominated for an Oscar. Emily Blunt, Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, America Ferrera and Cillian Murphy earned the first nominations of their careers.

Women are also taking a seat at the table, making up one-third of all nominees this year. This includes nine female Best Picture nominees and one female, Anatomy of a Fall’with Justine Triet, in competition for best director. Triet’s nomination marks the fifth consecutive year in which at least one film nominated for Best Picture was directed by a woman.

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Since the Academy Awards began in 1929, only eight women, including the 45-year-old Triet, have been nominated in the Best Director category. Only three have won: Jane Campion in 2021, Chloé Zhao in 2020 and Kathryn Bigelow in 2009.

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A member of the Academy says that there is an inevitability around him Barbie it may have ultimately cost him votes.

“When you have a movie that’s so populist, I think the popularity of it made people think, ‘Oh, well, people went to see it. Let’s show some love to other movies, such as Poor people. Let’s show some love to Anatomy of a Fall.’”

This year’s nominees for Best Director include Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor people) and Jonathan Glazer (Zone of interest).

In the best actress category are Annette Bening (Nyad), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor people).

In Wednesday’s episode ViewWhoopi Goldberg disagreed with the discourse surrounding Gerwig and Robbie being left out of the Best Actress and Best Director categories.

“Here’s the deal: not everyone wins!” Goldberg said as the hosts discussed their favorite films that did or did not receive nominations. “They’re not sneaky, and that’s what I want to point out.”

She added: “You don’t get everything you want…Movies are subjective. Not everyone gets an award. The movies you love may not be liked by the people who vote.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education