The Godfather star Al Pacino was tasked with announcing the nominees and winner of the Best Picture category for this year’s Oscars, which took place at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles. However, the 83-year-old jumped the gun and went straight to naming the winning film.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer beat The Holdovers, American Fiction, The Zone of Interest, Barbie, Poor Things, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, Maestro, and Killers of the Flower Moon as the Best Picture movie of the past year.
Watchers react to Al Pacino’s Oscar’s chaos
Al Pacino took to the stage, and while opening the envelope, he muttered, “My eyes see Oppenheimer,” as he brought out the card. Social media users went on X, formerly Twitter, to talk about the awkward moment, although they played it off as a joke. “I’m obsessed with how Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture…couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing lol,” someone wrote.
RELATED: 83-Year-Old Al Pacino Reportedly Welcomes Baby With 29-Year-Old Girlfriend
Another added, “Al Pacino announced Best Picture like this was the first time he had ever heard of a film called Oppenheimer.”
“Did Al Pacino just not read any of the other movies… and was like to hell with it. The envelope says Oppenheimer!” some other user speculated, with a user rhetorically asking if “Al Pacino just messed up the biggest category of the evening???”
Ref: LMK392 -J6086-030220
Vivienne Vincent/Landmark Media.
WWW.LMKMEDIA.COM.
Oscar producer apologizes for Al Pacino’s “mistake”
Amidst the hysteria for his seeming error, Al Pacino explained that “it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life, and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful.”
He also apologized to “those who have been slighted by this oversight,” being an entertainer himself “who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers.” Oscar producer Molly McNearney also admitted that Al Pacino’s omission of nominees’ names was “a creative decision” as they were “very worried that the show was going to be long.”
“I apologize if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot,” she echoed.