As support rolls in for Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig after they missed out on key Oscars nominations, Whoopi Goldberg (no stranger to controversy) has defended the Academy’s selection, refusing to acknowledge the pair’s lack of nominations for Barbie as “snubs”.
On Wednesday’s episode of The View, Goldberg responded to her fellow host Sunny Hostin’s mention of “the snubs” by saying, “There are no snubs, and that’s what you have to keep in mind…not everybody gets a prize. The movies you love may not be loved by the people who are voting.”
The 68-year old former Hollywood actor, herself an Oscar winner in 1990 for her supporting role in Ghost, continued: “Here’s the deal: Everybody doesn’t win!”
“And it’s not the elites — it’s the entire family of the Academy who vote for Best Picture nominations. We all vote for Best Picture, everybody.”
“So there are 7 to ten Oscar nominations that happen, and you don’t get everything that you want to get.”
The rest of the panelists commented on Ryan Gosling’s Best Supporting Actor nomination, with one questioning, “Did they miss the whole moral of the story of Barbie? Of course we celebrate just Ken and not the woman who is the lead it in and the icon in it?”
“But actually, I think this could give Greta an idea for a sequel. Barbie goes to Hollywood and is snubbed by the elites who chose Ken over her. So just throwing that out there for an idea.”
Meanwhile, high-profile celebrities and public figures have continued to weigh in on the controversy.
Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton posted a message to Robbie and Gerwig on Instagram.
“Greta and Margot, While it can sting to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you,” she wrote. “You’re both so much more than Kenough #HillaryBarbie.”
During an interview with the Today show on Wednesday, last year’s Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh said the snubs also left her scratching her head.
“You do think, ‘How do you get nominated for best picture but not best director and not best actress?’” she said. “It happens and I’m sorry it happened to them because it’s obviously one of the most successful and beloved movies.”
“It’s just, for us, it’s not enough nominations to go around. The only take is [that] it’s so competitive out there and there is no guarantee because you’re not the only voter, you know? It’s widespread. Thank God the movie got nominated for best picture.”
“Joy and disappointment… seems to go hand in hand.”