The 2021 Oscars closed out with the award for Best Actor, something that seemed like a lock for late actor Chadwick Boseman. It also seemed like the show had set the final award up as a tribute to the late Black Panther star. But then Joaquin Phoenix announced Anthony Hopkins as the winner for The Father, leading to the Internet’s collective jaws to drop.
Boseman’s turn in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom had been collecting awards across the season, acting as a tribute to the late actor who died shockingly due to cancer. So most were convinced that Boseman would easily walk away with the Oscar. That did not happen, leaving pretty much everybody stunned.
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Me when Chadwick Boseman didn’t win for Best Actor#Oscars
โ Siobhain (@summer0001) April 26, 2021
pic.twitter.com/EjFYg1wqA1
“Yeah the ‘let’s put Best Actor last so, obviously, we can celebrate the life of Chadwick Boseman’ really backfired,” writer Mike Ryan posted on Twitter. “Holy sโ Anthony Hopkins beating the late Chadwick Boseman AND Riz Ahmed AND Steven Yeun for Best Actor is just some go home with your heart in your belly stuff. What is even happening,” CNN columnist Jeff Yang added.
“The Oscars were so sure that Chadwick Boseman was going to win that they REARRANGED THE ENTIRE CEREMONY so his category could be last, and then they gave the award to Anthony Hopkins instead…the most chaotic and unhinged thing I’ve ever seen,” a third person wrote, adding to the shock that closed out the otherwise fun show. Here are how some are reacting:
The Big Switch
An absent Anthony Hopkins winning over Chadwick Boseman during a ceremony built to end around a Boseman win while Joaquin Phoenix awkwardly stumbles through it all is…wow. Chaos!
โ Jacob Hall (@JacobSHall) April 26, 2021
Everyone: “Oh they are going to end with Chadwick Boseman winning Best Actor!”
Steven Soderbergh: pic.twitter.com/VUv9oJ5o83
โ The Big Picture (@TheBigPic) April 26, 2021
Boseman’s Legacy is Already Sealed
chadwick boseman doesnโt need an oscar to prove his greatness. his legacy is already bigger than life itself. pic.twitter.com/ODCpc8EEeo
โ d. | oscar anti (@antidizi) April 26, 2021
chadwick boseman put his soul into that performance. he will always be the best actor winner for me. #oscars pic.twitter.com/RO5uh25nOm
โ kat ๐ชด | HACY (#1) (@katasstropheee) April 26, 2021
Is There Someone to Blame?
Wow, what a massively bad idea. And this overshadows the fact that both Anthony Hopkins and Chadwick Boseman were brilliant and one of them had to win. The spotlight is now shining solely on the producers. Huge mistake. From In Memoriam on, this show was a disaster.
โ Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) April 26, 2021
Oscar producers: โWe think itโd be great if we ended on Chadwick Bosemanโs win for Best Actor as a big emotional finale. You are voting for Boseman, right?โ
Oscar voters: pic.twitter.com/wf81JHiDtV
โ David Daut (@DavidMDaut) April 26, 2021
Shock and More Shock
I donโt care what you say.
Chadwick Boseman will forever be one of the greatest actors of this generation and he deserved to win that Oscar.
He did NOT deserve to be used as bait.#Oscars pic.twitter.com/lDSGhuP5a4
โ ๐ฏiana. (@HailMother) April 26, 2021
Twitter is about to blow up #ChadwickBoseman should have won.
โ JelaniAlladin (@JelaniAlladin) April 26, 2021
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