Mira Sorvino Calls Out Oscars For Snubbing Her Father Paul Sorvino From In Memoriam Segment

Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino is joining critics in calling the Academy out for excluding a surprising amount of Hollywood stars from its annual In Memoriam montage, including her own father, Paul Sorvino

Paul was noticeably missing from the In Memoriam segment of the evening’s broadcast, along with stars like Anne Heche, Tony Sirico, Leslie Jordan and more. He was instead featured on the section of the Oscars website that honors even more Hollywood figures who passed in the last year.  

Mira shared some choice words for the Academy’s oversight in a Monday tweet, writing, “It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing, brilliant departed actors were left out. The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!”

Paul enjoyed a long career starring in movies and television, including Goodfellas and Law & Order. He most recently appeared in Godfather of Harlem as former mob boss Frank Costello. He died in July 2022 of natural causes at the age of 83. 

In an Instagram post shared Sunday (March 12) prior to the In Memoriam montage, Mira fondly recalled the night she won her own Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite in 1996. “I am also moved in a thousand different ways when I think of the night I got to share my Academy Award with my Dad, the very great Paul Sorvino, who never got nominated,” she said. 

She later added a subsequent note to the caption after seeing he was not included, saying, “Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father’s lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whoever made that list.” 

Paul’s widow, Dee Dee Sorvino, also slammed the Academy Awards for not taking the extra time to honor him during the broadcast. “It’s a three-hour show, they can’t give a couple more minutes to get it right? Paul Sorvino gave decades to this industry and was loved by all,” she said in a statement, per People. 

The Academy responded with a statement after this year’s backlash, per Variety, “The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars In Memoriam segment. An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time. All the submissions are included on A.frame and will remain on the site throughout the year.”

A complete In Memoriam list can be found on the Oscars website, which includes names not featured in the ceremony broadcast.