Oscars Dodge Mentioning Donald Trump, but Some Speeches Still Hit on Hot-Button Political Issues
variety.comJ. Kim Murphy The Oscars ceremony Sunday evening kept within the mold of prior awards ceremonies this year, steering clear of politics and avoiding even name-dropping Donald Trump.
There was a brief zinger by host Conan O’Brien, spurred by trophies won by “Anora”: “Two wins already, I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.” That evoked Trump’s characterization of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “dictator,” as well as the tense media spectacle of the pair’s White House meeting earlier this week to discuss America’s foreign aid amid Russia’s invasion of the country.
But apart from that, the host and presenters dodged name-dropping Trump at all, even while introducing acting nominees Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan, who were representing a Trump biopic in “The Apprentice.” The evening kept with the tone set by January’s Golden Globes, the first major televised awards ceremony of the season, in which speeches stopped short of directly referencing the then-soon-to-be 47th president.
It also marks a contrast from the Oscar ceremonies under Trump’s first term, the first of which saw host Jimmy Kimmel called out the sitting commander-in-chief numerous times: “Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist?
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