The latest scandal on the awards circuit, yet again, involves The Hurt Locker. First-time nominee Nicolas Chartier, who is one of the producers nominated for Best Picture, sent out an email last week to an undisclosed amount of Academy members asking them flat-out to vote for his film: "If everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film."
Once the higher-ups at AMPAS caught on, they demanded that Chartier send an apology to the entire Academy. They have also suggested that they may revoke his tickets to the ceremony. Chartier has since apologized, but the talk continues.
The good news for Chartier and The Hurt Locker camp is that most ballots are likely already in the mail. And really, I'm inclined to refrain from slandering this guy the way others have been carrying on. Sure, he's a prized idiot for sending an EMAIL, which can always be traced and come back to haunt you; but really, this sort of "vote for me!" plea happens all the time in Hollywood. The only difference is that most nominees have the sense to say it in person, off the record, in a way that can't be traced back to them.
As a first-time nominee, Chartier likely just wasn't aware of the rules here. And trust me, this is no worse than some of the things Harvey Weinstein has pulled in the past.
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Apparently the rules are that you can't badmouth other film in promoting your own. (I just saw The Hurt Locker, though, and it was fantastic, so I don't care. Let 'em win.)
ReplyDeleteIt is fantastic and absolutely the best out of the nominees. But everyone knows that Best Picture is The Hurt Locker's to lose, which is why this blunder is news.
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