Celebrities who have slammed the Oscars over the years

Oscar the Grouch…

Although most actors work their whole lives to win an Oscar, not every celebrity is a fan of the biggest night in film.

Since the Academy Awards began in 1929, several stars have spoken out against the annual awards show and the pomp and circumstance that come with it.

Glenda Jackson, who won Best Actress for 1970’s “Women in Love” and again for 1973’s “A Touch of Class,” once said that the Oscars were about a “whole shebang of nonsense” during a chat with Entertainment Weekly in 2016.

George C. Scott, who won Best Actor for his iconic role as General George S. Patton in 1970’s “Patton,” famously called the Oscars ceremony a “two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons” and “offensive, barbarous, and innately corrupt.”

Now that the Academy Awards are just around the corner, here are some of the biggest celebrities who have slammed the Oscars over the years.

Matt Damon

Despite winning an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with Ben Affleck for “Good Will Hunting” in 1998, Matt Damon has made it clear that he doesn’t enjoy the campaigning that comes with awards season.

“What I don’t like is this idea of campaigning,” Damon explained during Netflix’s “Skip Intro” podcast ahead of the 98th Academy Awards.

“It seems completely backwards to me and odd,” he continued. “Maybe it’s good for movies, just having it all out there, and gets the culture thinking and talking about movies. I hope that’s the case…”

Besides scoring an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Damon earned acting nominations for “Good Will Hunting” in 1998, “Invictus” in 2010 and “The Martian” in 2016. He also garnered a Best Picture nod in 2017 for “Manchester by the Sea,” which he was a producer on.

Seth Rogen

Although Seth Rogen has never been nominated for an Oscar, he was happy to share his thoughts about the Academy Awards back in 2022.

“I don’t get why movie people care so much if other people care what awards we give ourselves,” the “Studio” star told Insider at the time regarding the ceremony’s dwindling TV ratings. “To me, maybe people just don’t care.”

“I don’t care who wins the automobile awards,” he continued. “No other industry expects everyone to care about what awards they shower upon themselves. Maybe people just don’t care. Maybe they did for a while, and they stopped caring. And why should they?”

Scarlett Johansson

Hollywood darling Scarlett Johansson called the Oscars out in 2025 over the fact that “Avengers: Endgame” wasn’t nominated for Best Picture a few years earlier.

The superhero ensemble, which starred Johansson, Chris Evans, Chadwick Boseman, Robert Downey Jr. and many more, was released in 2019 and only received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards the following year.

“How did this film not get nominated for an Oscar?” she asked during an interview with Vanity Fair.

“It was an impossible movie that should not have worked, that really works as a film,” Johansson added. “And also, it’s one of the most successful films of all time.”

Despite never scoring an Oscar nomination for her role as Natasha Romanoff in any of the Marvel films, Johansson did garner nominations for Best Actress for “Marriage Story” and Best Supporting Actress for “Jojo Rabbit” during the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.

Ethan Hawke

“Blue Moon” star Ethan Hawke didn’t hold back when discussing his disdain for the Oscars in 2013, although he later changed his tune regarding the matter.

“People want to turn everything in this country into a competition,” he complained before calling the Academy Awards process “asinine” during an interview with Gotham magazine.

“If you look at how many forgettable, stupid movies have won Oscars and how many mediocre performers have Oscars above their fireplace,” he continued. “Making a priority of chasing these fake carrots and money and dubious accolades, I think it’s really destructive.”

However, the “Boyhood” star backtracked on his remarks during a later interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“I think the Oscars do a very good job in representing much of the great work in a given year,” he clarified. “Inevitably, though, many great films and performances are not recognized and can be overlooked due to the mass marketing and PR machines that march through the awards season.”

“I don’t mean to take anything away from the genuine and deserved excitement that every nominee should feel,” Hawke, who has five Oscar nominations under his belt, added at the time.

Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac couldn’t keep his opinion to himself after the Academy Awards announced the brand new and “pretty stupid” Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film category in 2018.

“I don’t really understand it. I haven’t read the rules. It seems pretty dumb, but I guess that’s above my pay grade,” the “Frankenstein” star told USA Today regarding the then-new addition.

“I don’t really understand what it means. Who accepts the award? What’s the criteria for it? Is it based off box office? I don’t really get it.”

Isaac went on to suggest that the Academy Awards are “meaningless.”

“The reason why people get awards and why they don’t is already a slippery slope,” he noted. “Another category seems a little meaningless, but maybe not any more than the rest of it is.”

Joaquin Phoenix

No celebrity slammed the Oscars more than Joaquin Phoenix, who came out swinging while reflecting on the grueling awards campaign he had to take part in for 2005’s Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line.”

“It was one of the most uncomfortable periods of my life,” Phoenix, who received a Best Actor nomination for his role as Cash, told Interview in 2012. “I never want to have that experience again.”

The “Gladiator” star then compared the Oscar to a “carrot” and dubbed the Academy Awards “bulls–t.”

“I’m just saying that I think it’s bulls–t. I think it’s total, utter bulls–t, and I don’t want to be a part of it,” he charged. “I don’t believe in it. It’s a carrot, but it’s the worst-tasting carrot I’ve ever tasted in my whole life. I don’t want this carrot.”

“It’s totally subjective,” Phoenix added. “Pitting people against each other…It’s the stupidest thing in the whole world.”

Phoenix was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for “Gladiator” in 2000, followed by Best Actor nods for “Walk the Line” in 2006 and “The Master” in 2013. He then won the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor for “Joker” in 2020.

Anthony Hopkins

Years before making history at 83 as the oldest person to win a competitive Oscar for his role in “The Father” in 2021, Anthony Hopkins threw shade at the Academy Awards during a chat with HuffPost in 2012.

After calling it “nauseating to watch” and “disgusting to behold,” Hopkins explained why he “couldn’t stand” the awards season.

“You know, I’ve been around – I’ve got the Oscar myself for “Silence of the Lambs” – and having to be nice to people and to be charming and flirting with them…oh, come on!” he told the outlet.

“People go out of their way to flatter the nominating body, and I think it’s kind of disgusting,” Hopkins added. “That’s always been against my nature.”

But the Hollywood legend didn’t stop there.

“People groveling around and kissing the backsides of famous producers and all that. It makes me want to throw up, it really does. It’s sick-making,” Hopkins said.

“I’ve seen it so many times. I saw it fairly recently, last year,” he continued. “Some great producer-mogul, and everyone kisses this guy’s backside. I think, ‘What are they doing? Don’t they have any self-respect?’ I wanted to say, ‘F–k off.’”

Before Hopkins won the Oscar for his role in “The Father” in 2021, he garnered the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” in 1992.

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy was so disappointed with the Academy Awards for “not recognizing black people in motion pictures” that he almost refused to present the Oscar for Best Picture in 1988.

Although the “Coming to America” star ultimately changed his mind, he still let his thoughts be heard upon taking the stage that night.

“I’ll probably never win an Oscar for saying this, but hey, what the hey, I gotta say it,” Murphy told the audience. “Actually, I might not be in any trouble, because the way it’s been going is about every 20 years we get one, so we ain’t due to about 2004. So by that time, this will all be blown over.”

“So I came down here to give the award,” he continued. “I said, ‘But I just feel that we have to be recognized as a people. I just want you to know I’m gonna give this award, but black people will not ride the caboose of society, and we will not bring up the rear anymore. And I want you to recognize us.’”

Before Murphy’s remarks, only Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett Jr. had received an Oscar in the award show’s 60-year history.

Years later, the “Trading Places” funnyman revealed that Robin Williams tried to talk him out of his surprising speech calling out the Academy Awards.

“I remember being with Robin Williams backstage,” he told Entertainment Weekly in Nov. 2025. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna say this.’ And he goes to me, like, ‘But why go there?’”

“I was like, ‘Oh, you don’t think it’s funny?’ It was more, is it funny? Rather than it’s controversial,” Murphy explained. “I was trying to be funny and say a little something, but be funny too. Have a little edge to what I said.”