Yesterday, we reported that Allison Janney was heartbroken because she was told that this year’s Oscars would break from tradition and not invite back last year’s winners to present awards to this year’s crop of nominees. The speculation is that ABC and the Academy are so concerned about ratings this year, they wanted to make sure they had the biggest stars on the planet to present the biggest awards, and sadly, that meant Janney, Sam Rockwell, Gary Oldman, and Frances McDormand were out of luck. Well, after that story went viral, the Academy stepped up to correct that assumption.
READ MORE: 2018 Oscar Winner Allison Janney Is Heartbroken She Wasn’t Invited To Present This Year
In a new tweet, the Academy posted, “Last year, Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell had their names read from an envelope and they took home Oscar gold. This year, they’ll help make more dreams come true. We’re thrilled to announce they’ll be presenters at this year’s show.”
Now, astute readers will no doubt read between the lines there and notice that the Academy left out one major confirmation – which awards Janney and Co. will present. Are we getting the tradition back where they will present the acting awards? Or just by saying they will be presenters, does that mean that last year’s winners will present some of the early crafts awards? Sure, that’s better than completely snubbing Janney, Rockwell, Oldman, and McDormand, but it’s still a bit of damage control.
READ MORE: Bradley Cooper Admits He Was “Embarrassed” After Best Director Oscars Snub
Either way, this is yet another example of the Oscars doing its best to appease everyone and backtrack on original plans after they’re leaked to the public. We experienced this with last year’s Popular Film category kerfuffle, the Best Original Song controversy from a few weeks back, and now with presenters. We can only wonder what’s next?
Last year, Allison Janney, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman and Sam Rockwell had their names read from an envelope and they took home Oscar gold.
This year, they'll help make more dreams come true.
We're thrilled to announce they'll be presenters at this year's show. #Oscars
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 7, 2019
