Al Pacino has responded after his unusual presenting style for this year’s Best Picture Oscar left many confused.
The legendary actor was tasked with announcing the top award at this year’s ceremony, which ultimately went to Oppenheimer.
“Only one will take the award for Best Picture, and I have to go to the envelope for that, and I will. Here it comes,” Pacino said. “And my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer.’”
Not only did his off-kilter rhythm remove the usual suspenseful theatrics of the reveal, but he skipped over the tradition of naming the full list of nominees.
The moment left many confused on social media, while others praised the Godfather actor’s humorous indifference to the moment.
However, he has since responded to the “controversy” and insisted the choice to omit naming the 10 Best Picture nominees came from higher-ups.
“There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award,” the Serpico star said in a statement, per Variety.
“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honoured to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”
He continued: “I realise being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognised is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathise with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement. ”
Oscars producer Molly McNearney also told Variety in an interview after the ceremony that “it was a creative decision” not to list all 10 nominees because the creative team was “very worried that the show was going to be long”, and clips from all the nominees had already been played throughout the ceremony.
“By the time you get to the end of the show, you’ve seen all 10 best picture clip packages,” she said. “People just want to hear who wins, and they’re pretty ready for the show to be over. At least that’s what we anticipated. So, we did not give him a clip package. We did not give him nominations to read. I apologise if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot.”
The Heat actor also notably left out the iconic “And the Oscar goes to…” line, which the producer said made things “a little confusing”, though added: “But listen, that’s the excitement of live television. You never know what you’re going to get exactly!”
Even if the whole thing did play out quite strangely, it’s certainly not the most bonkers Best Picture announcement we’ve seen (need we revisit 2017’s La La Land vs Moonlight mixup?)
It also sparked a host of amazing memes and reactions which, let’s be honest, is the best part of any viral moment.