Michelle Yeoh Shares (and Deletes) Article That Questioned Oscars’ Historic Racism
Following the controversial nominations of Andrea Riseborough and Ana de Armas, as well as the debates over Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler’s respective snubs, the 2023 Best Actress category has been rife with controversy. And now, its two frontrunners are at the center of yet another questionable campaign tactic.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle Yeoh reposted a Vogue article on Tuesday titled “It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change In 2023?” to Instagram. Yeoh captioned, “This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me. We want to be seen. We want to be heard.”
The post went live just hours before voting closed ahead of the 95th Academy Awards this Sunday, March 12.
The Vogue article pointed out that “for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts, after a decade of being criminally underused in Hollywood.”
The Daily Beast questioned whether Yeoh sharing the article, and its specific excerpt, violated the “References to Other Nominees” rules due to its timing just before Oscar voting ended.
The rule states that social media from people associated with an eligible film casting a “negative or derogatory light on a competing film or achievement will not be tolerated.”
Yeoh previously addressed fellow Best Actress nominee Riseborough’s social-media-heavy campaigning, which led to the Academy reevaluating its rules. “The Academy has always prided itself on having regulations and playing by the rules and if [cheating them] was so easy it would have done before,” Yeoh said during BBC Radio 4’s “Today” show. “We are always evolving on how to protect our integrity and I have great faith we will continue to do that.”
IndieWire has reached out to representatives for Yeoh for comment.
