In a move that is rare, bizarre, and embarrassing, the Academy has revoked an Oscar nomination after it was revealed that the nominee, Bruce Broughton (whose theme for the little-seen, faith-based movie Alone Yet Not Alone was nominated for original song) improperly campaigned for the honor. The news is especially awkward for the Academy given that Broughton is a former Academy governor and head of the music branch.
On Tuesday night, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to rescind the left-field nomination after it was discovered that Broughton “had emailed members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period.”
“No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President, in a press release. “The Board determined that Broughton’s actions were inconsistent with the Academy’s promotional regulations, which provide, among other terms, that ”it is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner.”
Making the chain of events even more humiliating is the fact that the Academy reportedly resisted initial protests against the somewhat random original-song nomination, which boxed other better-known tracks by artists such as Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Coldplay out of the category. After Deadline revealed that Broughton was closely linked to the Academy, it was reported that a publicity firm had hired a private investigator to determine whether the film was even eligible for a nomination. When it was brought to the Academy’s attention that the film’s producers had not advertised the film in print media—a requirement for a nomination—the Academy responded that advertisements placed by an Encino theater that had screened the film for a single week were enough promotion to quality if for a nomination.
The Academy has revealed that it will not announce a replacement nomination—rather, the field will be narrowed to the remaining four nominees. The most recent Oscar nomination to be rescinded occurred in 2012, when the Academy revoked the live-action short nod for Tuba Atlantic after discovering that the short had played on Norwegian television two years earlier, and was no longer eligible.