7 months ago
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She’s just Barbie — and he’s the Oscar-nominated Ken.
Hollywood was stunned Tuesday as “Barbie” creators Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were both snubbed by the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Actress, while Ryan Gosling got a nod for his role as beach-dwelling Ken.
Theories range from sexism to snobbery, with one Oscar voter telling Page Six: “Greta deserved the nomination … both she and Margot should have been nominated, but this is the world we still live in.”
Another Hollywood source categorized the omissions as “such a snub” given that “Barbie,” which came out during the doldrums of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes, made nearly $1.5 billion. “The movie lifted the industry. It’s this kind of thinking that hurts the industry.”
Justine Triet, who is nominated for Best Director for “Anatomy of a Fall,” told The Hollywood Reporter that she “was surprised because there are no more women beside me.”
The Oscars voter source sniffed to The Post: “The Academy needs to realize you can vote for more than one woman.”
Oscar-nominated America Ferrera (left) was “incredibly disappointed” “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig and co-star Robbie (right) were snubbed. Getty Images for SeeHerAmerica Ferrera, who won a Best Supporting Actress nomination for “Barbie,” told Variety of her female colleagues, “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated.
“Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it … ,” Ferrera added. “What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy … “
Meanwhile, another member of the Academy told Page Six: “I’m surprised, in this woke world we live in, that Margot and Greta didn’t get nominated. If you give it to Ryan, you should give it to them.”
Gerwig (left) and Robbie picked up the the Golden Globe for best cinematic and box office achievement for “Barbie.” APGosling released a statement saying he is “incredibly honored” for his nomination, “But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.”
While all of Gerwig’s films — “Lady Bird,” “Little Women” and “Barbie” — have had Best Picture nominations, she has never been nominated for Best Director.
Gerwig and her husband, Noah Baumbach, are nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Robbie is also a producer on “Barbie.”
Ryan Gosling is nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Ken. APEach branch of the Academy votes for its own category. The best director category is voted on by almost 600 members — less than 6% of the entire Academy — while the acting branch makes up 13% of the total group.
Just seven other women have been nominated for directing before, and only three have won: Jane Campion in 2021 for “The Power of the Dog,” Chloé Zhao in 2020 for “Nomadland” and Kathryn Bigelow in 2009 for “The Hurt Locker.”
Gosling said of his Oscar nom: “There is no Ken without Barbie.” Warner Bros. Pictures Robbie is nominated as a producer, as Barbie is up for a Best Picture Oscar. Warner Bros. PicturesAlthough “Barbie” did receive eight nominations, including Best Song for “I’m Just Ken” (performed by Gosling) and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Scott Feinberg, the Hollywood Reporter’s awards expert, wrote: “The optics of excluding from the directing and lead actress categories the women most responsible for a critically acclaimed film that became the biggest blockbuster of 2023 are not good.”
Feinberg added that the directing branch has “long been among the Academy’s oldest and most male” and that “Barbie” may have been dismissed as “a movie about a toy.”
