Which was the most controversial Academy Awards ceremony and why?

Answer 1

It would be hard to narrow it down to one choice, but here are some candidates in chronological order. Most of them took place during the politically tumultuous 1970s.

1. March 13, 1947 -- Family feuds are not unusual, but they can become the stuff of legends when it comes to the Academy Awards. Among the nominees for Best Actress of 1941 were Joan Fontaine for "Suspicion" and her older sister (by 15 months), Olivia de Havilland for "Hold Back the Dawn." Fontaine won the award. Five years later, De Havilland won the 1946 Best Actress award for her performance in "To Each His Own." When the announcement was made, De Havilland apparently rebuffed Fontaine's attempt to congratulate her. "I don't know why she does that when she knows how I feel," De Havilland reportedly told her press agent. The sisters were said to have had a strained relationship ever since they were children. There were reports that they stopped speaking to each other in 1975. But when Fontaine died at the age of 96 on December 15, 2013, De Havilland issued a statement declaring she was "shocked and saddened" by her sister's death.

2. April 15, 1971 -- George C. Scott had expressed his dislike of the Academy Awards when he was nominated for Best Supporting of 1961 for "The Hustler" and declared that the annual competition was a "meat market." When he began receiving praise for his performance in the 1970 biopic "Patton," Scott told talk show host Johnny Carson that his opinion of the Oscars hadn't changed. Sure enough, Scott won the Best Actor award, but he was a no-show at the ceremony. It was the first time an actor had ever declined an Oscar, but it wouldn't be the last.

3. March 27, 1973 -- Marlon Brando won the 1972 Best Actor award for "The Godfather," but sent a spokeswoman named Sacheen Littlefeather to decline the award. She explained that Brando's action was in response to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie reruns." The action drew boos from the audience. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that Brando previously had contacted the Academy about a replacement for the 1954 Oscar he won for "On the Waterfront." According to the story, Brando claimed his first Best Actor award had been stolen.

4. April 2, 1974 -- The nation's outrageous fad during the spring of 1974 was "streaking," in which people, primarily college students, ran through public places in the nude. So it shouldn't have surprised anyone when a naked prankster named Robert Opel ran onstage near the end of the Oscars ceremony. Co-host David Niven, who was at the podium at the time, remained composed and declared, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?" Opel reportedly gained access to the awards show by using newspaper credentials, but many believe that the incident was staged. Whatever the truth was, it was appropriate when Elizabeth Taylor arrived moments later and announced that the Best Picture winner was "The Sting."

5. April 8, 1975 -- A controversy arose when "Hearts and Minds," a documentary critical of the Vietnam War, won an Academy Award. While onstage, producer Bert Schneider began reading a congratulatory communiqué from the North Vietnamese. In response, politically conservative Oscar co-hosts Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra quickly put together a statement that was delivered by Sinatra: "The Academy is saying, 'We are not responsible for any political utterances made on this program, and we are sorry they had to take place this evening'." That move irked liberal activist Shirley MacLaine, another Oscars co-host, and her brother Warren Beatty. When Sinatra introduced Beatty to present the Academy Award for Best Picture (won by "The Godfather Part II"), Beatty replied, "Thank you, Frank -- you old Republican."

6. April 3, 1978 -- British film star and political activist Vanessa Redgrave won the 1977 Best Supporting Actress award for "Julia," and delivered a stunning acceptance speech in which she labeled some of her critics as "Zionist hoodlums." Her comments elicited audible gasps from the audience. Later during the ceremony, veteran screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who served as a presenter, blasted Redgrave's comments and declared he was "sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda."

7. April 9, 1979 -- Antiwar protestors picketed the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion because of their dislike of Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter," which was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Many of the demonstrators declared the film was racist because of its portrayal of North Vietnamese soldiers in the infamous Russian roulette scene. Cimino's movie was a big winner that night, capturing five Oscars, including Best Picture. Another film that did well was the antiwar drama "Coming Home," which won lead Oscars for its stars, Jon Voight and Jane Fonda.

8. March 29, 1993 -- An urban legend developed about the 1992 Best Supporting Actress race when American Marisa Tomei of "My Cousin Vinny" won the award over four heavyweight actresses from abroad (Australia's Judy Davis and Britons Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson). As the story goes, Tomei actually didn't win the award because 74-year-old presenter Jack Palance read the wrong name from the envelope. The Academy has denied the story and said auditors would have stepped in to correct any such mistake. Despite the controversy, Tomei certainly has proved her mettle throughout the years, winning additional Oscar nominations for "In the Bedroom" (2001) and "The Wrestler" (2008).

9. March 21, 1999 -- The Academy paid tribute to a great filmmaker with an honorary award to 89-year-old Elia Kazan, whose credits included "Gentleman's Agreement," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront," "East of Eden," "A Face in the Crowd" and "Splendor in the Grass." But the award was unpopular with many at the ceremony because of Kazan's decision to testify in 1952 before the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating Communist influences in Hollywood. Many of the people outed by Kazan were blacklisted for years. At the Oscars ceremony, many in the audience rose to their feet and applauded Kazan, while numerous others protested by remaining still in their seats.

10. March 23, 2003 -- The 75th Academy Awards took place on the same day that the United States invaded Iraq. As a result, the event was a bit muted until activist filmmaker Michael Moore won the Best Documentary Oscar for "Bowling for Columbine." Joined onstage in solidarity by several of his fellow nominees in the Documentary category, Moore blasted President George W. Bush for "sending us to war for fictitious reasons." He continued: "We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush. Shame on you."

Moore's comments were greeted by boos from the audence and a loud musical flourish by the show's orchestra. Later, Oscars host Steve Martin quipped that "The Teamsters are helping Michael Moore into the trunk of his limo."