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Stars Who Skipped the Academy Awards: Tom Cruise, Zendaya and More Absences at the 2023 Oscars Explained
You were missed! Tom Cruise, Zendaya and more were notably absent during the 2023 Oscars on Sunday, March 12. Keep reading to see why some of your favorite celebrities skipped the 95th annual Academy Awards.
Tom’s blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick was up for Best Picture and scored five other nominations, but the superstar wasn’t there to support the film. Instead, the hardest working man in Hollywood was in the United Kingdom shooting Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part II.
James Cameron‘s Avatar: The Way of the Water was also nominated for Best Picture, but he passed on attending the Oscars. He didn’t score a Best Director nomination, which some believed is why he snubbed the event.
Zendaya has been a regular presence at the Academy Awards, where fans live to see what incredible outfits she wears on the red carpet. But neither the Euphoria star nor her boyfriend, Tom Holland, were in attendance.
Best Actor nominee Austin Butler flew solo to his first Oscars, not bringing girlfriend Kaia Gerber. He walked the champagne carpet solo and dodged questions about his supermodel sweetheart’s whereabouts when speaking to reports during the Oscars arrivals.
There were many surprises — and snubs — for this year’s nominations. Many fans were shocked when Taylor Swift wasn’t nominated in the category for Best Original Song.
“Carolina” was featured in Where the Crawdads Sing, a film based on the best-selling book, and it earned Taylor nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, Grammy Awards and Satellite Awards. The track, which was written by the songstress and produced by her and Aaron Dessner, was on the shortlist to be nominated for an Oscar before the official list was released.
Selena Gomez’s “My Mind and Me” from her documentary of the same name was also left out of the category for Best Song. Despite Ryan Reynolds tapping his pal Hugh Jackman to help campaign for his and Will Ferrell’s song “Good Afternoon” from Spirited to get nominated, it was also absent from the list.
Instead, the nominees for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards include “Applause” by Diane Warren from Tell It Like a Woman; “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop from Top Gun: Maverick; “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Goransson and Tems from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; “Naatu Naatu” by M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose from RRR and “This is a Life” by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski from Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The Oscars is considered to be the most prestigious awards show in film, and the categories are notoriously tough. Fans pointed out that many critically acclaimed sequels did not earn a spot in the Best Picture category, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, Avatar: The Way of Water cinched a nomination this year.
The other nominees for Best Picture include All Quiet on the Western Front, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking.
Although Brendan Fraser was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, his film, The Whale, did not itself earn a spot in Best Picture. Brendan did an incredible job in the heart wrenching film, but he is up against some serious competition for Best Actor, including Austin Butler (Elvis); Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin); Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and Bill Nighy (Living).
As far as Best Actress in a Leading Film, Viola Davis is considered the biggest snub of the year, as her performance in The Woman King was overlooked. The nominees in the competitive category are Cate Blanchett (Tár); Ana de Armas (Blonde); Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie); Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All a Once).
Keep scrolling to see which stars skipped the 2023 Oscars!
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