The omission of the late Robert Blake and other legends like Tony Sirico, Leslie Jordan, Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, and Paul Sorvino from the Oscars ‘In Memoriam’ tribute has caused quite a stir on social media with fans of the late actor’s criticizing the move.
Noah, Blake Robert’s son from his first marriage has revealed in an interview with TMZ that his dad getting left out of the tribute was a very huge mistake on the part of the award show organizers. “I think it was just handled poorly, all the way around. I think the whole ‘In Memoriam’ was just botched and bundled really badly, and not just from the standpoint of my father,” he told the news outlet. “But there were a lot of other people who contributed a lot of their lives. Motion pictures were left out of that list and it’s just entirely wrong.”
Noah Blake says people’s opinions should not overshadow an actor’s work
Noah told the outlet that people are free to air their opinions about his late father but it should not be a basis for his non-inclusion in the segment. “People are entitled to their opinions about my father, but your opinion about someone personally really should be independent from the work that they do,” he said, “and I know it’s not always easy to separate that. I just thought it was handled badly.”
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He further claimed that the organizers of the Oscars really disappointed him and his father’s fans with their decision but most especially Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes made things worse. “If they don’t want to put him in for whatever reason, they don’t want to put him in,” Noah told TMZ. “But I thought the joke that Kimmel made was just not funny, and I would imagine that Jimmy would probably be the first to admit that.”
Noah Blake Slams Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel for his sultry jokes about Robert Blake
“It landed like a thud, and it was kind of confusing. When I saw it, I was like, ‘Are they really doing this? Is there going to be a phone number to vote on this?’ Confusion doesn’t lend itself well to comedy,” he continued. “I think Jimmy is a really funny guy, I like Jimmy Kimmel … he didn’t even seem to feel comfortable telling that joke. It just seemed really weird. I am not super consumed. I am not super consumed.”
The 58-year-old concluded that the timing of Kimmel’s joke was totally off because his father had just died a couple of days earlier. “In the simplest sense, I would say two to three days after someone passes away, a lot of people are going to feel a lot of ways and it might not be the greatest time to make a so-so joke at their expense,” Noah added. “Especially considering again the body of work he contributed and the legacy of work he left behind.”