They’re rubbing salt in our wounds.
After the academy rudely snubbed beloved actor Luke Perry in the “In Memoriam” segment at the 2020 Oscars on Sunday, they’ve now issued a pitiful crumb of a rebuttal: He’s included on their website.
“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 Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year,” the academy told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement Tuesday.
After Perry — who was best known for starring in “Beverly Hills, 90210,” but also appeared in one of this year’s Best Picture nominees (“Once Upon A Time in … Hollywood”) — was noticeably missing from the roundup at this year’s awards, the internet erupted with anger.
Perry was 52 years old when he died of a massive stroke in March 2019. Fans were also quick to point out that Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce, who died in his sleep at the age of 20 due to a seizure last July, was also missing from the tribute that aired during the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Michael J. Pollard, a 1968 Best Supporting Actor nominee for “Bonnie and Clyde,” and Jan-Michael Vincent were also left out of the segment.
But instead of issuing a good old-fashioned apology (which usually does the trick), the academy insisted that “Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce are remembered in the Oscar.com gallery.”
They were good enough for the silver screen in life, but not in death, apparently.
Notable deaths that did make the cut included Oscar-winning basketball star Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in January, and three-time Oscar nominee Kirk Douglas, who passed away last week. Each of the deceased was projected on a screen as Billie Eilish covered the Beatles’ song “Yesterday.”