Twitter and celebrities feel like the Academy got it wrong in overlooking Chadwick Boseman‘s performance. The late actor was believed to be a shoe-in to win Best Actor for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, but Anthony Hopkins won instead for The Father.
TMZ asked The United States Vs. Billie Holiday star Andra Day, Evan Ross and Minnie Harlow if he was snubbed, and they said “he was.”
Boseman’s family is cool with it though. His brother Derrick Boseman told TMZ that he doesn’t see the loss as a snub, adding that he wishes all the best for Hopkins because “I’m sure Anthony would if Chad won.”
Hopkins himself appeared to be taken by surprise. The 83-year-old made history, becoming the oldest recipient ever for Best Actor, but he wasn’t even awake to know. His rep tells People that he was in bed: “Tony was in Wales, where he grew up, and he was asleep at 4 in the morning when I woke him up to tell him the news.”
“After a year in quarantine, and being double-vaccinated, he was finally able to return to Wales, and age 83, it was a great relief after such a difficult year,” says Jeremy Barber. “But he loved the role in The Father – it's his proudest performance – and to be the oldest living actor to win in the category means so much to him.”
On Twitter, fans weren’t having it. Wrote one: “CHADWICK BOSEMAN WILL ALWAYS BE ONE OF THE BEST ACTORS OF OUR TIME. OSCAR OR NOT”.