Lily Gladstone Oscars Snub Sparks Uproar

Lily Gladstone was nominated for Best Actress at the 96th annual Academy Awards for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon—and many people are furious she lost to Emma Stone.

If Gladstone had won on Sunday, she would have been the first Native American person ever to win an Academy Award.

The Context

Gladstone received near-universal acclaim for her performance as real-life figure Mollie Burkhart in the film, which chronicled the series of real-life murders of members of the Osage Nation, known as the Reign of Terror. Set in 1920s Osage County, Oklahoma, the killings were part of a plot to steal the rights to their oil-rich land.

Gladstone, who is from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, previously made history when she was first nominated for the award as she became the first Native American woman to be put forward. However, she is not the first indigenous nominee for Best Actress, with previous contenders including Yalitza Aparicio for 2018's Roma and Keisha Castle-Hughes for 2003's Whale Rider. Both women also didn't go on to win the award.

What We Know

While Gladstone received a robust wave of applause when her name was announced during the presentation of the nominees, the biggest surprise of the night was Emma Stone winning Best Actress for Poor Things.

All season it had been a race between her and Lily Gladstone for The Killers of the Flower Moon. It seemed like Gladstone was going to be the winner because she won the Screen Actors Guild award, which is often an indicator of who will win the Oscar. Stone's win, her second—she previously won Best Actress in 2016 for La La Land—was the upset of the night.

Views

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Gladstone for comment on Monday.

Many people aren't happy that Gladstone didn't win the award, with some saying she had been "snubbed."

At the time of writing, the actor's name was trending on X (formerly Twitter) as many people took to the social media platform to express their disgust over her not winning.

"The Lily Gladstone snub is gonna be remembered and immortalized forever," one person wrote.

"this is the literal biggest snub of time like lily gladstone im so sorry I wasn't a member of the academy," said another.

"not only was this decision a heinous snub @ lily gladstone, i feel like emma stone genuinely wanted to throw herself off that stage lmao like it's literally the La La Land win all over again, both of her oscars are tainted & she knows it," a third person posted.

A fourth added: "Don't think I'll ever forgive the Lily Gladstone Snub of 2023."

Others took the opportunity to congratulate Gladstone for her success so far and to remind people of her incredible performance in Killers of the Flower Moon.

"It's incredible the emotional range Lily Gladstone was able to communicate with just her eyes. She didn't win an Oscar but her work in Killers of the Flower Moon is one for the history books," one X user posted to the platform.

"What a season for Lily Gladstone with KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. She'll be nominated again, but what an achievement to embody Mollie Burkhart so fully, to convey the complications of her soul and identity in such an epic, coursing story as this. A performance I'll never forget," wrote another.

A third added: "there is so much lily gladstone has to be proud of. she is the beating heart of killers of the flower moon. it simply wouldn't have been made without her. she is a winner in my heart.

What's Next?

Gladstone will team up with Martin Scorsese again for her next movie, The Memory Police.

The film is an adaptation of Yoko Ogawa's acclaimed sci-fi novel of the same name. It centers on an island where inhabitants experience amnesia and a novelist's attempt to hide her editor from the Memory Police.