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Why Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Murphy Were Not Nominated For Oscars Revealed

By Akinwale Akinyoade
20 January 2020   |   8:19 am
Jennifer Lopez is a woman of many talents, she is a successful singer, actress and businesswoman but it appears talent is not enough to get you an Oscar nomination. Fans were left shocked when the nominees for the 2020 Oscars were announced and the "Hustlers" star failed to make the cut. Now a longtime member…
Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez | The Business of FASHION

Jennifer Lopez is a woman of many talents, she is a successful singer, actress and businesswoman but it appears talent is not enough to get you an Oscar nomination.

Fans were left shocked when the nominees for the 2020 Oscars were announced and the “Hustlers” star failed to make the cut.

Now a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Services who vote on Oscar nominees, Terry Moore has explained why JLo was not nominated for the prestigious award.

91-year-old Moore who was s an Oscar nominee nominated in 1952 for a best-supporting actress award for “Come Back, Little Sheba,” does not only think JLo’s performance in “Hustlers” is overrated but she also has one piece of advice for her, “Get over it.”

Moore said:

“I would have been shocked if she did get it.”

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy |Getty Images

As for Eddie Murphy, some voters disliked how hard he seemed to be campaigning for a nomination including hosting “Saturday Night Live” after giving his old show the cold shoulder for 35 years.

“I didn’t like his attempt for it,” said Moore.

Another longtime Academy member spoke about JLo’s Oscar snub saying:

“First of all, ‘Hustlers’ is not an ‘Oscar movie.’ It’s a little too rough around the edges, and I’m assuming some other people in the acting category didn’t see it. Florence Pugh seems to have gotten the J. Lo spot — maybe because ‘Little Women’ is a prestige movie and she’s a bright, new star.

JLo is not the only artiste whose lack of a nomination shocked social media as actors, Adam Sandler for “Uncut Gems”, Eddie Murphy for “Dolemite Is My Name,”  and Awkwafina for “The Farewell”.

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler | Watch

Speaking of Sandler and Murphy’s Oscar snubs, the longtime character actor continued:

“Actors tend to think of Jennifer Lopez as a phenomenon more than an actress, per se. [It’s like last year, when] Lady Gaga lost the Oscar to Olivia Colman — a real actor’s actor.”

And even those who enjoyed Sandler’s much-lauded performance in “Uncut Gems” said there remains a skepticism in Hollywood about viewing him as a serious actor.

“That [performance] was a tour de force. He’s emerging as a truly great actor, but then he does cheesy Netflix comedies that are really dumb,” said the character actor.

He admitted that, as with “Hustlers,” some voters may not even have bothered to watch Awkwafina’s “The Farewell” or Sandler’s “Uncut Gems.”

“There are a lot of movies, a lot of performances per year for us to watch. Unfortunately, actors become brands. Sandler’s brand doesn’t scream ‘Oscar,’ but Leo Di Caprio’s and Jonathan Pryce’s do,” the character actor said, name-checking 2020 nominees for “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” and “The Two Popes,” respectively.

Insiders add that there can be resentment among the voting body — there are some 1,324 voting members in the acting branch — when actors perceived as outsiders don’t play the game right.

Last month, Sandler may have rubbed some of them the wrong way when he joked on Howard Stern’s show:

“If I don’t get [the Oscar], I’m going to f–king come back and do [a movie] again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay.”

“There was an arrogance to [Adam],” huffed a voting member. “It’s a lack of respect.”

Still, the voting member conceded:

“If Adam Sandler has another great film, he’ll be nominated. If Eddie Murphy has another great film, he’ll be nominated.”

A 2013 report by The Post had it that some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars were not pleased that Sandler and Beyonce were invited to join as they deemed they “unowrthy”.

An insider was quoted as saying:

“They’re talented in their own ways, but is that what the Academy is about?”

 

1986 Oscar winner for Best Actor has a word of advice for those that were snubbed this year:

“Either you can accept it graciously, or you can fight against it.”

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