Academy reverses decision to hand out some Oscars during commercial breaks and will hand out all awards live after outcry

• Academy reversed an earlier decision to cut four award presentations from live broadcast
• All 24 award categories will now be shown live during the upcoming broadcast
• Ratings drops was said to be the main reason that the Academy wanted to shorten the Oscars show to three-hours
•  High-profile Academy members signed an open letter opposing the move to have four rotating categories cut from the live show starting this year

After mounting pressure from Academy members, The Motion Picture Academy announced it has reversed an earlier decision to cut four award presentations from the live Oscars telecast.

With the move, all 24 categories will be shown live during the upcoming broadcast – as has been done in previous years.

In a statement on Friday, the officers of the Academy’s board of governors said it ‘has heard the feedback from its membership regarding the Oscar presentation of four awards – Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling,’

It continued: ‘All Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format. We look forward to Oscar Sunday, February 24.’

Backlash heard: The Motion Picture Academy reversed an earlier decision and will now air all 24 award presentations during the upcoming Oscars broadcast +4
Backlash heard: The Motion Picture Academy reversed an earlier decision and will now air all 24 award presentations during the upcoming Oscars broadcast
Earlier this week, the Academy announced that the winning speeches for the four categories would be presented during commercial breaks and aired in a shortened video later in the broadcast in an effort to reduce the show to three hours.

Ratings drops, including last year’s Oscars, was said to be the main reason that the Academy wanted four rotating categories cut from the live show starting this year.

But backlash grew fast and fierce.

By Wednesday an open letter, signed by some of the most prominent filmmakers and actors, that harshly criticized the move was sent to the Academy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It read in part: ‘When the recognition of those responsible for the creation of outstanding cinema is being diminished by the very institution whose purpose it is to protect it, then we are no longer upholding the spirit of the academy’s promise to celebrate film as a collaborative art form.’

Strength in numbers: Academy members sent an open letter in opposition to cutting four categories from the live telecast in order to get the show to three hours: picture from 2018 +4
Strength in numbers: Academy members sent an open letter in opposition to cutting four categories from the live telecast in order to get the show to three hours: picture from 2018
Some of the more high-profile names that signed the letter included directors Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann, Alfonso Cuaron and Christopher Nolan; cinematographers Roger Deakins, Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubeski and Robert Richardson; editors Tom Cross, William Goldenberg and Mary Jo Markey.

Some of the actors who added their names included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Banks, Peter Dinklage and Kerry Washington.

Wasting little time, the Academy responded with a letter to members defending the decision and blamed ‘a chain of misinformation’ on the backlash.

The Academy also tried to assure members that ‘no award category at the 91st Oscars ceremony will be presented in a manner that depicts the achievements of its nominees and winners as less than any others.

The 91st Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in the heart of Hollywood on Sunday, February 24 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

Source: Kevin KayHart