News Analysis India

Tag: Oscars

  • Oscar nominees in main categories

    By AFP

    HOLLYWOOD: Here are the nominees in key categories for the 95th Academy Awards, to be handed out in Hollywood on Sunday.

    Multiverse sci-fi smash “Everything Everywhere All at Once” tops the list with 11 nominations, followed by Irish dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and World War I flick “All Quiet on the Western Front” at nine.

    Best picture

    “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    “Avatar: The Way of Water”

    “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    “Elvis”

    “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    “The Fabelmans”

    “Tar”

    “Top Gun: Maverick”

    “Triangle of Sadness”

    “Women Talking”

    Best director

    Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”

    Todd Field, “Tar”

    Ruben Ostlund, “Triangle of Sadness”

    Best actor

    Austin Butler, “Elvis”

    Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

    Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”

    Bill Nighy, “Living”

    Best actress

    Cate Blanchett, “Tar”

    Ana de Armas, “Blonde”

    Andrea Riseborough, “To Leslie”

    Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans”

    Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Best supporting actor 

    Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Brian Tyree Henry, “Causeway”

    Judd Hirsch, “The Fabelmans”

    Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Best supporting actress

    Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

    Hong Chau, “The Whale”

    Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    – Best international feature film -“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)

    “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)

    “Close” (Belgium)

    “EO” (Poland)

    “The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)

    Best animated feature

    “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

    “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”

    “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”

    “The Sea Beast”

    “Turning Red”

    Best documentary feature

    “All That Breathes”

    “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

    “Fire of Love”

    “A House Made of Splinters”

    “Navalny”

    Films with seven or more nominations

    “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – 11

    “All Quiet on the Western Front” – 9

    “The Banshees of Inisherin” – 9

    “Elvis” – 8

    “The Fabelmans” – 7

    HOLLYWOOD: Here are the nominees in key categories for the 95th Academy Awards, to be handed out in Hollywood on Sunday.

    Multiverse sci-fi smash “Everything Everywhere All at Once” tops the list with 11 nominations, followed by Irish dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and World War I flick “All Quiet on the Western Front” at nine.

    Best picturegoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “All Quiet on the Western Front”

    “Avatar: The Way of Water”

    “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    “Elvis”

    “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    “The Fabelmans”

    “Tar”

    “Top Gun: Maverick”

    “Triangle of Sadness”

    “Women Talking”

    Best director

    Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”

    Todd Field, “Tar”

    Ruben Ostlund, “Triangle of Sadness”

    Best actor

    Austin Butler, “Elvis”

    Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”

    Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”

    Bill Nighy, “Living”

    Best actress

    Cate Blanchett, “Tar”

    Ana de Armas, “Blonde”

    Andrea Riseborough, “To Leslie”

    Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans”

    Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Best supporting actor 

    Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Brian Tyree Henry, “Causeway”

    Judd Hirsch, “The Fabelmans”

    Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Best supporting actress

    Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

    Hong Chau, “The Whale”

    Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

    Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

    – Best international feature film –
    “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)

    “Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)

    “Close” (Belgium)

    “EO” (Poland)

    “The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)

    Best animated feature

    “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

    “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”

    “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”

    “The Sea Beast”

    “Turning Red”

    Best documentary feature

    “All That Breathes”

    “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

    “Fire of Love”

    “A House Made of Splinters”

    “Navalny”

    Films with seven or more nominations

    “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – 11

    “All Quiet on the Western Front” – 9

    “The Banshees of Inisherin” – 9

    “Elvis” – 8

    “The Fabelmans” – 7

  • Hollywood’s Asian stars welcome ‘long overdue’ breakthrough at Oscars

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: From Oscars favourites “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “RRR” to an unprecedented four acting nominations, Asian representation in Hollywood has finally achieved a remarkable and overdue breakthrough this year, industry insiders say.

    Among many records tumbling this awards season, Malaysian “Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is only the second Asian best actress nominee in 95 years of Oscars history, with a strong chance of becoming the first winner Sunday.

    Only four Asian actors have ever won Oscars. That is the same number nominated this year alone, including Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, and Hong Chau of “The Whale.”

    Then there is India’s all-singing, all-dancing “RRR,” heavily tipped to win best original song, and Nobel literature laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s nominated screenplay for “Living.”

    Behind the camera, best picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere” — a $100 million box office hit with 11 Oscar nominations — has an Asian co-director, Daniel Kwan, and an Asian producer, Jonathan Wang.

    “There’s something really beautiful about being able to show that if you put people in these roles, people will go see it,” Wang told AFP.

    “Why is it only white characters who go on the fun adventures, but Asian and Black characters and Latino characters have to experience the suffering? It’s time to flip that on its head. And people are going to run to the box office.”

    ALSO READ| ‘Larger than life’: Film-maker Rajamouli shoots for Oscar fame

    It is all a far cry from Hollywood’s past. At the recent Screen Actors Guild awards, James Hong, the 94-year-old veteran who appears in “Everything Everywhere,” reflected on how white actors with “their eyes taped up” once played leading Asian roles because producers thought “the Asians are not good enough and they are not box office.”

    “But look at us now,” he said, to a huge ovation.

    ‘Long overdue’

    Back in 1965, Hong co-founded the East West Players, a Los Angeles theatre group created to boost the visibility of Asian American actors and issues. The company has welcomed this year’s diverse Oscar nominations, which artistic director Snehal Desai says are “much appreciated and long overdue.”

    “These are artists who have been doing this work for decades. We are glad for the visibility and recognition, but it really should not have taken this long,” he said.

    Vietnam-born Quan, a major child star in the 1980s with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” all but abandoned acting for decades due to a lack of roles. “Quan’s story of his prolonged absence from the industry, in particular, strikes a resonant chord for our community, as we continue to fight for more opportunities and quality representation,” the group said in a statement.

    ALSO READ | Oscar Predictions: Will ‘Everything’ take everything?

    Kristina Wong, an actor and comedian currently appearing in a one-woman show co-produced by East West Players, said she had been driven to write her own productions because it was the only way to see “weird” immigrant stories told. “It is either this or sit around and audition for bubble gum commercials,” she told AFP.

    “I’ve done that life. And it sucks. It’s not fulfilling creatively. There is still a lack of opportunities in general,” said Wong.

    But with her “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” a Pulitzer drama finalist, and “Everything Everywhere” racking up awards and box office receipts, “I think we’re ready” for new stories, she said. “We’ve been seeing the same tired old stories about… this white guy action hero, going ‘I’m going to fix this with a gun.’”

    “It’s made me excited, thinking maybe there’s an audience ready to be challenged.”

    ‘Pull the ladder’

    Still, Asian success at the Oscars has remained limited to a tiny group. Just 23 Asian actors’ performances have ever been nominated, representing a mere 1.2 per cent of all nominations, according to a New York Times study. Only Ben Kingsley, whose father was Indian, has been nominated more than once. And there has never been a year in which more than one Asian actor won.

    ALSO READ | Oscar-bound short film lifts veil on Iranian women rejecting male domination

    Could this be the year representation goes beyond a few, specific individuals?

    South Korea-born Joel Kim Booster, who wrote and starred in gay rom-com “Fire Island,” said having his work championed by two Asian executives at Disney-owned Searchlight had “really pushed this project through and made sure that it was going to get made.”

    “For a long time, there was this pull-the-ladder-up-behind-me mentality” among many minorities who found success in Hollywood, he told AFP.

    “There was a scarcity… a mentality of ‘there’s only room for one of us at the table and that’s going to be me.’ I think that has dissipated in a big way.”

    LOS ANGELES: From Oscars favourites “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “RRR” to an unprecedented four acting nominations, Asian representation in Hollywood has finally achieved a remarkable and overdue breakthrough this year, industry insiders say.

    Among many records tumbling this awards season, Malaysian “Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is only the second Asian best actress nominee in 95 years of Oscars history, with a strong chance of becoming the first winner Sunday.

    Only four Asian actors have ever won Oscars. That is the same number nominated this year alone, including Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, and Hong Chau of “The Whale.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Then there is India’s all-singing, all-dancing “RRR,” heavily tipped to win best original song, and Nobel literature laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s nominated screenplay for “Living.”

    Behind the camera, best picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere” — a $100 million box office hit with 11 Oscar nominations — has an Asian co-director, Daniel Kwan, and an Asian producer, Jonathan Wang.

    “There’s something really beautiful about being able to show that if you put people in these roles, people will go see it,” Wang told AFP.

    “Why is it only white characters who go on the fun adventures, but Asian and Black characters and Latino characters have to experience the suffering? It’s time to flip that on its head. And people are going to run to the box office.”

    ALSO READ| ‘Larger than life’: Film-maker Rajamouli shoots for Oscar fame

    It is all a far cry from Hollywood’s past. At the recent Screen Actors Guild awards, James Hong, the 94-year-old veteran who appears in “Everything Everywhere,” reflected on how white actors with “their eyes taped up” once played leading Asian roles because producers thought “the Asians are not good enough and they are not box office.”

    “But look at us now,” he said, to a huge ovation.

    ‘Long overdue’

    Back in 1965, Hong co-founded the East West Players, a Los Angeles theatre group created to boost the visibility of Asian American actors and issues. The company has welcomed this year’s diverse Oscar nominations, which artistic director Snehal Desai says are “much appreciated and long overdue.”

    “These are artists who have been doing this work for decades. We are glad for the visibility and recognition, but it really should not have taken this long,” he said.

    Vietnam-born Quan, a major child star in the 1980s with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” all but abandoned acting for decades due to a lack of roles. “Quan’s story of his prolonged absence from the industry, in particular, strikes a resonant chord for our community, as we continue to fight for more opportunities and quality representation,” the group said in a statement.

    ALSO READ | Oscar Predictions: Will ‘Everything’ take everything?

    Kristina Wong, an actor and comedian currently appearing in a one-woman show co-produced by East West Players, said she had been driven to write her own productions because it was the only way to see “weird” immigrant stories told. “It is either this or sit around and audition for bubble gum commercials,” she told AFP.

    “I’ve done that life. And it sucks. It’s not fulfilling creatively. There is still a lack of opportunities in general,” said Wong.

    But with her “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” a Pulitzer drama finalist, and “Everything Everywhere” racking up awards and box office receipts, “I think we’re ready” for new stories, she said. “We’ve been seeing the same tired old stories about… this white guy action hero, going ‘I’m going to fix this with a gun.’”

    “It’s made me excited, thinking maybe there’s an audience ready to be challenged.”

    ‘Pull the ladder’

    Still, Asian success at the Oscars has remained limited to a tiny group. Just 23 Asian actors’ performances have ever been nominated, representing a mere 1.2 per cent of all nominations, according to a New York Times study. Only Ben Kingsley, whose father was Indian, has been nominated more than once. And there has never been a year in which more than one Asian actor won.

    ALSO READ | Oscar-bound short film lifts veil on Iranian women rejecting male domination

    Could this be the year representation goes beyond a few, specific individuals?

    South Korea-born Joel Kim Booster, who wrote and starred in gay rom-com “Fire Island,” said having his work championed by two Asian executives at Disney-owned Searchlight had “really pushed this project through and made sure that it was going to get made.”

    “For a long time, there was this pull-the-ladder-up-behind-me mentality” among many minorities who found success in Hollywood, he told AFP.

    “There was a scarcity… a mentality of ‘there’s only room for one of us at the table and that’s going to be me.’ I think that has dissipated in a big way.”

  • Hollywood’s Asian stars welcome ‘long overdue’ breakthrough at Oscars

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: From Oscars favourites “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “RRR” to an unprecedented four acting nominations, Asian representation in Hollywood has finally achieved a remarkable and overdue breakthrough this year, industry insiders say.

    Among many records tumbling this awards season, Malaysian “Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is only the second Asian best actress nominee in 95 years of Oscars history, with a strong chance of becoming the first winner Sunday.

    Only four Asian actors have ever won Oscars. That is the same number nominated this year alone, including Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, and Hong Chau of “The Whale.”

    Then there is India’s all-singing, all-dancing “RRR,” heavily tipped to win best original song, and Nobel literature laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s nominated screenplay for “Living.”

    Behind the camera, best picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere” — a $100 million box office hit with 11 Oscar nominations — has an Asian co-director, Daniel Kwan, and an Asian producer, Jonathan Wang.

    “There’s something really beautiful about being able to show that if you put people in these roles, people will go see it,” Wang told AFP.

    “Why is it only white characters who go on the fun adventures, but Asian and Black characters and Latino characters have to experience the suffering? It’s time to flip that on its head. And people are going to run to the box office.”

    ALSO READ| ‘Larger than life’: Film-maker Rajamouli shoots for Oscar fame

    It is all a far cry from Hollywood’s past. At the recent Screen Actors Guild awards, James Hong, the 94-year-old veteran who appears in “Everything Everywhere,” reflected on how white actors with “their eyes taped up” once played leading Asian roles because producers thought “the Asians are not good enough and they are not box office.”

    “But look at us now,” he said, to a huge ovation.

    ‘Long overdue’

    Back in 1965, Hong co-founded the East West Players, a Los Angeles theatre group created to boost the visibility of Asian American actors and issues. The company has welcomed this year’s diverse Oscar nominations, which artistic director Snehal Desai says are “much appreciated and long overdue.”

    “These are artists who have been doing this work for decades. We are glad for the visibility and recognition, but it really should not have taken this long,” he said.

    Vietnam-born Quan, a major child star in the 1980s with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” all but abandoned acting for decades due to a lack of roles. “Quan’s story of his prolonged absence from the industry, in particular, strikes a resonant chord for our community, as we continue to fight for more opportunities and quality representation,” the group said in a statement.

    ALSO READ | Oscar Predictions: Will ‘Everything’ take everything?

    Kristina Wong, an actor and comedian currently appearing in a one-woman show co-produced by East West Players, said she had been driven to write her own productions because it was the only way to see “weird” immigrant stories told. “It is either this or sit around and audition for bubble gum commercials,” she told AFP.

    “I’ve done that life. And it sucks. It’s not fulfilling creatively. There is still a lack of opportunities in general,” said Wong.

    But with her “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” a Pulitzer drama finalist, and “Everything Everywhere” racking up awards and box office receipts, “I think we’re ready” for new stories, she said. “We’ve been seeing the same tired old stories about… this white guy action hero, going ‘I’m going to fix this with a gun.’”

    “It’s made me excited, thinking maybe there’s an audience ready to be challenged.”

    ‘Pull the ladder’

    Still, Asian success at the Oscars has remained limited to a tiny group. Just 23 Asian actors’ performances have ever been nominated, representing a mere 1.2 per cent of all nominations, according to a New York Times study. Only Ben Kingsley, whose father was Indian, has been nominated more than once. And there has never been a year in which more than one Asian actor won.

    ALSO READ | Oscar-bound short film lifts veil on Iranian women rejecting male domination

    Could this be the year representation goes beyond a few, specific individuals?

    South Korea-born Joel Kim Booster, who wrote and starred in gay rom-com “Fire Island,” said having his work championed by two Asian executives at Disney-owned Searchlight had “really pushed this project through and made sure that it was going to get made.”

    “For a long time, there was this pull-the-ladder-up-behind-me mentality” among many minorities who found success in Hollywood, he told AFP.

    “There was a scarcity… a mentality of ‘there’s only room for one of us at the table and that’s going to be me.’ I think that has dissipated in a big way.”

    LOS ANGELES: From Oscars favourites “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “RRR” to an unprecedented four acting nominations, Asian representation in Hollywood has finally achieved a remarkable and overdue breakthrough this year, industry insiders say.

    Among many records tumbling this awards season, Malaysian “Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is only the second Asian best actress nominee in 95 years of Oscars history, with a strong chance of becoming the first winner Sunday.

    Only four Asian actors have ever won Oscars. That is the same number nominated this year alone, including Yeoh’s co-stars Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, and Hong Chau of “The Whale.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Then there is India’s all-singing, all-dancing “RRR,” heavily tipped to win best original song, and Nobel literature laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s nominated screenplay for “Living.”

    Behind the camera, best picture frontrunner “Everything Everywhere” — a $100 million box office hit with 11 Oscar nominations — has an Asian co-director, Daniel Kwan, and an Asian producer, Jonathan Wang.

    “There’s something really beautiful about being able to show that if you put people in these roles, people will go see it,” Wang told AFP.

    “Why is it only white characters who go on the fun adventures, but Asian and Black characters and Latino characters have to experience the suffering? It’s time to flip that on its head. And people are going to run to the box office.”

    ALSO READ| ‘Larger than life’: Film-maker Rajamouli shoots for Oscar fame

    It is all a far cry from Hollywood’s past. At the recent Screen Actors Guild awards, James Hong, the 94-year-old veteran who appears in “Everything Everywhere,” reflected on how white actors with “their eyes taped up” once played leading Asian roles because producers thought “the Asians are not good enough and they are not box office.”

    “But look at us now,” he said, to a huge ovation.

    ‘Long overdue’

    Back in 1965, Hong co-founded the East West Players, a Los Angeles theatre group created to boost the visibility of Asian American actors and issues. The company has welcomed this year’s diverse Oscar nominations, which artistic director Snehal Desai says are “much appreciated and long overdue.”

    “These are artists who have been doing this work for decades. We are glad for the visibility and recognition, but it really should not have taken this long,” he said.

    Vietnam-born Quan, a major child star in the 1980s with “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and “The Goonies,” all but abandoned acting for decades due to a lack of roles. “Quan’s story of his prolonged absence from the industry, in particular, strikes a resonant chord for our community, as we continue to fight for more opportunities and quality representation,” the group said in a statement.

    ALSO READ | Oscar Predictions: Will ‘Everything’ take everything?

    Kristina Wong, an actor and comedian currently appearing in a one-woman show co-produced by East West Players, said she had been driven to write her own productions because it was the only way to see “weird” immigrant stories told. “It is either this or sit around and audition for bubble gum commercials,” she told AFP.

    “I’ve done that life. And it sucks. It’s not fulfilling creatively. There is still a lack of opportunities in general,” said Wong.

    But with her “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” a Pulitzer drama finalist, and “Everything Everywhere” racking up awards and box office receipts, “I think we’re ready” for new stories, she said. “We’ve been seeing the same tired old stories about… this white guy action hero, going ‘I’m going to fix this with a gun.’”

    “It’s made me excited, thinking maybe there’s an audience ready to be challenged.”

    ‘Pull the ladder’

    Still, Asian success at the Oscars has remained limited to a tiny group. Just 23 Asian actors’ performances have ever been nominated, representing a mere 1.2 per cent of all nominations, according to a New York Times study. Only Ben Kingsley, whose father was Indian, has been nominated more than once. And there has never been a year in which more than one Asian actor won.

    ALSO READ | Oscar-bound short film lifts veil on Iranian women rejecting male domination

    Could this be the year representation goes beyond a few, specific individuals?

    South Korea-born Joel Kim Booster, who wrote and starred in gay rom-com “Fire Island,” said having his work championed by two Asian executives at Disney-owned Searchlight had “really pushed this project through and made sure that it was going to get made.”

    “For a long time, there was this pull-the-ladder-up-behind-me mentality” among many minorities who found success in Hollywood, he told AFP.

    “There was a scarcity… a mentality of ‘there’s only room for one of us at the table and that’s going to be me.’ I think that has dissipated in a big way.”

  • Oscars turn down Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony

    By Online Desk

    For the second year in a row, the Academy has turned down Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony, reports said.

    Zelenskyy’s overtures to the Oscars comes as polls show Americans’ support for providing assistance to Ukraine has weakened, Variety reports.

    The Variety quoting sources said that WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. 

    Meanwhile, the report noted that the Academy isn’t the only group to refuse Zelenskyy. In September, Zelenskyy’s team reached out to the Toronto Film Festival about the leader appearing via satellite, but they were denied. 

    In recent months, according to Variety, Zelenskyy’s team enlisted Simpson, who reps such heavyweights as Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, to make overtures to the Globes and re-engage the Academy after last year’s rejections. While the Globes embraced the idea and gave Zelenskyy several minutes of airtime, the Academy wasn’t interested. In an added personal twist, Simpson’s son Tommy collaborated on a song for “Superpower” with Ukrainian actress-pop singer Tina Karol.

    For the second year in a row, the Academy has turned down Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony, reports said.

    Zelenskyy’s overtures to the Oscars comes as polls show Americans’ support for providing assistance to Ukraine has weakened, Variety reports.

    The Variety quoting sources said that WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Meanwhile, the report noted that the Academy isn’t the only group to refuse Zelenskyy. In September, Zelenskyy’s team reached out to the Toronto Film Festival about the leader appearing via satellite, but they were denied. 

    In recent months, according to Variety, Zelenskyy’s team enlisted Simpson, who reps such heavyweights as Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, to make overtures to the Globes and re-engage the Academy after last year’s rejections. While the Globes embraced the idea and gave Zelenskyy several minutes of airtime, the Academy wasn’t interested. In an added personal twist, Simpson’s son Tommy collaborated on a song for “Superpower” with Ukrainian actress-pop singer Tina Karol.

  • Oscars turn down Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony

    By Online Desk

    For the second year in a row, the Academy has turned down Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony, reports said.

    Zelenskyy’s overtures to the Oscars comes as polls show Americans’ support for providing assistance to Ukraine has weakened, Variety reports.

    The Variety quoting sources said that WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. 

    Meanwhile, the report noted that the Academy isn’t the only group to refuse Zelenskyy. In September, Zelenskyy’s team reached out to the Toronto Film Festival about the leader appearing via satellite, but they were denied. 

    In recent months, according to Variety, Zelenskyy’s team enlisted Simpson, who reps such heavyweights as Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, to make overtures to the Globes and re-engage the Academy after last year’s rejections. While the Globes embraced the idea and gave Zelenskyy several minutes of airtime, the Academy wasn’t interested. In an added personal twist, Simpson’s son Tommy collaborated on a song for “Superpower” with Ukrainian actress-pop singer Tina Karol.

    For the second year in a row, the Academy has turned down Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to speak at this year’s ceremony, reports said.

    Zelenskyy’s overtures to the Oscars comes as polls show Americans’ support for providing assistance to Ukraine has weakened, Variety reports.

    The Variety quoting sources said that WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Meanwhile, the report noted that the Academy isn’t the only group to refuse Zelenskyy. In September, Zelenskyy’s team reached out to the Toronto Film Festival about the leader appearing via satellite, but they were denied. 

    In recent months, according to Variety, Zelenskyy’s team enlisted Simpson, who reps such heavyweights as Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, to make overtures to the Globes and re-engage the Academy after last year’s rejections. While the Globes embraced the idea and gave Zelenskyy several minutes of airtime, the Academy wasn’t interested. In an added personal twist, Simpson’s son Tommy collaborated on a song for “Superpower” with Ukrainian actress-pop singer Tina Karol.

  • ‘It still hurts’: Chris Rock addresses Will Smith’s Oscar slap for first time in Netflix special

    By Associated Press

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

  • Year after the slap, Chris Rock punches back in new special

    By Associated Press

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

  • ‘It still hurts’: Chris Rock addresses Will Smith’s Oscar slap for first time in Netflix special

    By Associated Press

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

    A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.”

    The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed his first stand-up special since last year’s Oscars in a much-awaited sequel that had all the hype — and more — of a Manny Pacquaio prizefight. “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” streamed live from the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, marked Netflix’s first foray into live streaming. But it was also a long-awaited comedy counterpunch to Academy Awards infamy.

    Rock, performing in all white and with a Prince medallion around his neck, immediately touched on last year’s Oscars while riffing on “wokeness,” hypersensitivity and what he called “selective outrage.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “You never know who might get triggered,” said Rock. “Anybody who says words hurt hasn’t been punched in the face.”

    But Rock then launched into a series of wide-ranging topics examining contemporary issues, including virtue signaling, high-priced yoga pants, the Duchess of Sussex, the Kardashians, abortion rights, the Capitol riot and what he called America’s biggest addition: Attention.

    “We used to want love, now we just want likes,” said Rock.

    Rock, who also riffed on how he’d respond if his father transitioned to a woman (he would support him, Rock said), made clear “Selective Outrage” was not going to be just a Will Smith show. Only occasionally did Rock’s material dovetail with the 2022 Oscars, like it did when Rock joked about the oddity of Snoop Dogg becoming such a venerated pitch man for advertisers.

    “I’m not dissing Snoop,” said Rock. “The last thing I need is another mad rapper.”

    But an hour into his set, Rock closed the special with a torrent of material about the notorious Academy Awards moment.

    ALSO READ | Academy sets up ‘crisis team’ following Will Smith-Chris Rock slap row

    “You all know what happened to me, getting smacked by Suge Smith. Everybody knows,” Rock said. “It still hurts. I got ‘Summertime’ ringing in my ears.”

    While Smith has apologized and repeatedly spoken about the incident since last March, Rock has avoided all the usual platforms where celebrities often go to air their feelings. He never sat down with Oprah Winfrey, and turned away the many media outlets that would have loved to land an exclusive in-depth interview.

    “I’m a not a victim, baby,” said Rock. “You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen.”

    But Rock did use his encounter with Smith to shape and enliven his second stand-up special for Netflix. Some of his best material was on their physical differences.

    “We are not the same size. This guy does movies with his shirt off,” said Rock. “You will never see me do a movie with my shirt off. If I’m in a movie getting open-heart surgery, I got on a sweater.”

    “He played Muhammed Ali,” added Rock. “I played Pookie in ‘New Jack City.’”

    Ultimately, Rock suggested he was just caught in the crossfire in Smith’s relationship with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. It was a joke that Rock told about Pinkett Smith that prompted Smith to stride on stage and strike Rock. The comedian on Saturday referenced Pinkett Smith’s earlier confessions of having an “entanglement” with another man while married.

    “I did not have any entanglements,” said Rock. “She hurt him way more than he hurt me.”

    “I love Will Smith,” added Rock. “Now I watch ‘Emancipation’ just to see him get whooped.”

    Before dropping his microphone and holding his arms up triumphantly, Rock left the crowd with one last zinger. Rock said the reason why he didn’t physically retaliate at the Oscars was because “I got parents.”

    “And you know what my parents taught me?” he said. “Don’t fight in front of white people.”

    Netflix added pre- and post-show bookends of star-studded live programming with, as host comedian Ronny Chieng said, “every comedy legend who owes Netflix a favor.” Bono lent a opening introduction. Dana Carvey and David Spade hosted the after-show. Paul McCartney, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld and one of last year’s Oscar hosts, Wanda Sykes, all added pre-taped messages. Arsenio Hall guaranteed Rock’s set would cause Smith to smack his television set.

    For much of the past year, Rock has been touring new material in a long string of performances as part of his Ego Death tour. The shows, which had been announced before the 2022 Oscars, have featured performances with Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart.

    On the road, Rock has often worked in jokes and reflections on the slap. Rock first broke his public silence about the slap three nights after the Oscar ceremony, last year in Boston. “How was your weekend?” he asked the crowd. He added that he was “still kind of processing what happened.”

    After plenty of processing, Rock retook the cultural spotlight just a week before the March 12 Oscars, where the slap is sure to revisited by this year’s host, Jimmy Kimmel. In the aftermath of last year’s events, Smith resigned his membership to the film academy. The academy board of governors banned Smith from the Oscars and all other academy events for a decade.

    At the annual luncheon for nominees held last month, motion picture academy president Janet Yang voiced regret about how the incident was handled, calling the academy’s response “inadequate.” Bill Kramer, the academy’s chief executive, has said the academy has since instituted a crisis communications team to prepare for and more rapidly respond to the unexpected.

    “Selective Outrage” is Rock’s second special for Netflix, following 2018’s “Tamborine.” They’re part of a two-special $40 million deal Rock signed with the streamer in 2016.

    As new as the live “Selective Outrage” was for Netflix, it was hard not to notice a few familiar things about it.

    “You’ve got to give it to the tech companies for inventing something that existed for decades,” said Chieng. “We’re doing a comedy show on Saturday night … live. Genius.”

  • Slap chat? Chris Rock live Netflix special to air week before Oscars  

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: Chris Rock’s live Netflix special will air just a week before the Oscars, the streamer said Tuesday, raising expectations that the comedian will address the shocking moment he was slapped by Will Smith during last year’s Hollywood award show.

    This Saturday evening “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” will become the first-ever event shown in real time on Netflix, accompanied by pre- and post-show entertainment featuring celebrities from Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer to Sir Paul McCartney and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    Netflix did not comment on the material of Rock’s main show, but the comic has spent much of the last year touring stand-up venues around the world with a routine that has included jokes about “The Slap.”

    Last March, Smith climbed onto the Oscars stage and slapped Rock across the face in response to a joke the comic made about the closely cropped hair of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia.

    Rock was asked by Los Angeles police at the time whether he wanted to file a report against Smith, but he declined, and he has not publicly addressed the incident outside of his stand-up shows since.

    “March 4 will be a hilarious evening, with an incredible set from Chris Rock — one of the greatest stand-ups of all-time — and contributions from an amazing lineup of special guests,” said Netflix comedy vice-president Robbie Praw.

    “Our goal is to deliver the best stand-up comedy to our members and this live streaming event further reinforces all the ways we continue to invest in the genre.”

    Netflix, the world’s leading streaming platform, has lured millions of viewers away from traditional broadcast television, but it lost subscribers for the first time last year.

    The company, which has since returned to growth, has been experimenting with various new models, including live content.

    The streaming company already hosts a live comedy festival at more than 35 venues in Los Angeles, though those shows have not yet been available in real time on its platform.

    From next year Netflix will air the Screen Actors Guild awards — an important pre-Oscars Hollywood award show — live on its platform.

    According to multiple reports the company is also looking into offering live sports on its platform. Rivals including Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video already offer live events including sports and musical events.

    Saturday’s comedy show will be Rock’s second for Netflix, after the pre-recorded 2018 “Chris Rock: Tamborine.”

    The 95th Academy Awards take place this year on March 12.

    LOS ANGELES: Chris Rock’s live Netflix special will air just a week before the Oscars, the streamer said Tuesday, raising expectations that the comedian will address the shocking moment he was slapped by Will Smith during last year’s Hollywood award show.

    This Saturday evening “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” will become the first-ever event shown in real time on Netflix, accompanied by pre- and post-show entertainment featuring celebrities from Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer to Sir Paul McCartney and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    Netflix did not comment on the material of Rock’s main show, but the comic has spent much of the last year touring stand-up venues around the world with a routine that has included jokes about “The Slap.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Last March, Smith climbed onto the Oscars stage and slapped Rock across the face in response to a joke the comic made about the closely cropped hair of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, who has alopecia.

    Rock was asked by Los Angeles police at the time whether he wanted to file a report against Smith, but he declined, and he has not publicly addressed the incident outside of his stand-up shows since.

    “March 4 will be a hilarious evening, with an incredible set from Chris Rock — one of the greatest stand-ups of all-time — and contributions from an amazing lineup of special guests,” said Netflix comedy vice-president Robbie Praw.

    “Our goal is to deliver the best stand-up comedy to our members and this live streaming event further reinforces all the ways we continue to invest in the genre.”

    Netflix, the world’s leading streaming platform, has lured millions of viewers away from traditional broadcast television, but it lost subscribers for the first time last year.

    The company, which has since returned to growth, has been experimenting with various new models, including live content.

    The streaming company already hosts a live comedy festival at more than 35 venues in Los Angeles, though those shows have not yet been available in real time on its platform.

    From next year Netflix will air the Screen Actors Guild awards — an important pre-Oscars Hollywood award show — live on its platform.

    According to multiple reports the company is also looking into offering live sports on its platform. Rivals including Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video already offer live events including sports and musical events.

    Saturday’s comedy show will be Rock’s second for Netflix, after the pre-recorded 2018 “Chris Rock: Tamborine.”

    The 95th Academy Awards take place this year on March 12.

  • Rihanna to perform ‘Black Panther’ song at Oscars

    By AFP

    LOS ANGELES: Pop superstar Rihanna will perform at the Oscars next month, organizers said Thursday, just weeks after she made her long-awaited — and visibly pregnant — return at the Super Bowl.

    The Barbados-born singer will perform her Academy Award-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at the film industry’s top awards show in Hollywood.

    The song is competing with the likes of Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” and the current frontrunner “Naatu Naatu” from Indian crowd-pleaser “RRR.”

    Rihanna, 35, had not performed a live show in seven years before bringing a career-spanning medley of hits to the NFL flagship halftime show earlier this month.

    She has instead concentrated on the successful makeup, lingerie and high-fashion brands that have helped make her a billionaire — as well raising her first child, a son, who was born in May.

    Her new baby bump dominated conversation at the Super Bowl, with representatives for the singer confirming soon after the show that Rihanna is pregnant with her second child.

    But fans hoping for a glimpse of the album she’s been teasing for years were left disappointed.

    “Lift Me Up” is the first Oscar nomination for Rihanna, a nine-time Grammy winner with eight multi-platinum albums.

    The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on March 12.

    LOS ANGELES: Pop superstar Rihanna will perform at the Oscars next month, organizers said Thursday, just weeks after she made her long-awaited — and visibly pregnant — return at the Super Bowl.

    The Barbados-born singer will perform her Academy Award-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at the film industry’s top awards show in Hollywood.

    The song is competing with the likes of Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” and the current frontrunner “Naatu Naatu” from Indian crowd-pleaser “RRR.”

    Rihanna, 35, had not performed a live show in seven years before bringing a career-spanning medley of hits to the NFL flagship halftime show earlier this month.

    She has instead concentrated on the successful makeup, lingerie and high-fashion brands that have helped make her a billionaire — as well raising her first child, a son, who was born in May.

    Her new baby bump dominated conversation at the Super Bowl, with representatives for the singer confirming soon after the show that Rihanna is pregnant with her second child.

    But fans hoping for a glimpse of the album she’s been teasing for years were left disappointed.

    “Lift Me Up” is the first Oscar nomination for Rihanna, a nine-time Grammy winner with eight multi-platinum albums.

    The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on March 12.