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And the Oscar for boycotting goes to…
Over the years, many A-listers have taken a stand and vetoed going to the coveted Academy Awards ceremony.
Each celebrity cited a different reason for skipping out, including politics, the need for sleep or simply no longer caring about the accolade.
Ahead of the 2026 Oscars, Amanda Seyfried revealed that nabbing a trophy isn’t high on her list of priorities.
While being interviewed for the New Yorker, the actress, 40, was asked if winning an Oscar is “important” to her.
Seyfried stated: “No. Do you remember who won in the past 10 years?”
The “Mean Girls” star had two movies, “The Testament of Ann Lee” and “The Housemaid,” release on the same day in December.
Seyfried’s limited crime series, “Long Bright River,” debuted last March and received a Golden Globes nomination.
“It’s not the win that’s important. It’s the nomination. It does thrust you forward,” she added. “That’s a fact.”
Keep reading for a look at all of the stars who boycotted the Oscars.
Elizabeth Taylor
In 1966, the actress and her then-husband, Richard Burton, were both nominated for the thriller “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
However, Burton convinced his wife to skip the ceremony with him.
Burton, who died in 1984, had lost four times prior for “My Cousin Rachel” (1952), “The Robe” (1953), “Becket” (1964) and “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (1965).
He didn’t want to continue the streak.
Taylor, meanwhile, ended up winning for Best Actress. The star, who passed away in 2011, also took home an Academy Award for 1960’s “Butterfield 8.”
Burton went on to lose for 1969’s “Anne of the Thousand Days” and “Equus” in 1977.
Marlon Brando
The beloved actor was a frontrunner to win for Best Actor in 1973 for his role as Vito Corleone in “The Godfather.” Brando, who died in 2004, ended up skipping the ceremony and sending Native American activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, in his place instead.
Littlefeather, who passed away in 2022, accepted Brando’s trophy on stage and read his speech about the mistreatment of Native Americans in films. However, she was met with a resounding set of boos.
Woody Allen
The 90-year-old filmmaker is notorious for skipping out on award ceremonies. In 1978, Allen won for Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture for the Diane Keaton led rom-com “Annie Hall.”
He still opted not to show.
In 2003, Allen went to the Oscars to introduce the films that had been made in New York City following the September 11 attacks.
“The whole concept of awards is silly,” he said in 1974 following the lack of Oscar nominations for his comedy sci-fi film “Sleeper.”
“I cannot abide by the judgment of other people, because if you accept it when they say you deserve an award, then you have to accept it when they say you don’t.”
Paul Newman
The actor was nominated for an Oscar six times: including in 1959, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1982, and 1983, before he took home the award in 1987 for “The Color of Money.”
Newman, who died in 2008, wasn’t in attendance to accept his Oscar, explaining to the Associated Press, “It’s like chasing a beautiful woman for 80 years. Finally, she relents, and you say, ‘I’m terribly sorry. I’m tired.'”
The star went on to be nominated again in 1995 for “Nobody’s Fool” and 2003 for “Road to Perdition.”
Newman did, however, take home two honorary Oscars, one in 1986 and another in 1994.
Eminem
In 2003, Eminem won the Oscar for Best Original Song “Lose Yourself” in his musical drama, “8 Mile.”
The artist’s cowriter Luis Resto accepted the award because Eminem was reportedly asleep when his song won.
Eminem later confessed that he actually didn’t show up because he didn’t think he’d win.
Will Smith
In 2016, the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” alum took a stand against the annual show.
Even though Smith, 57, wasn’t nominated for his 2015 sports thriller, “Concussion,” he decided not to show up as a protest for the lack of diversity in the nominees.
It was the second year in a row where the 20 major actor nominees nominated were all white.
As Smith told “Good Morning America” at the time: “We’re part of this community. But at this current time, we’re uncomfortable to stand there and say, ‘This is okay.'”
The “Bad Boys” star is no stranger to an award show hold out. In 1989, he boycotted the Grammys because the category for Best Rap Performance wouldn’t be televised.
“We don’t have the problem with the Grammy as an award or the Grammys as an institution, we just had a problem with the 1989 design of the awards show,” Smith told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “We chose to boycott. We feel that it’s a slap in the face.”
Years later, at the 2022 Academy Awards, Smith smacked Chris Rock across the face onstage after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The academy’s board of governors went on to ban the star from attending the awards ceremony for the next decade. Smith has since apologized to Rock, 60.
Spike Lee
The filmmaker, 68, also boycotted the 2016 Oscars, despite winning an honorary Oscar for his achievements as a director that year.
Like Smith, Lee stood up to the lack of diversity.
The director took to Instagram at the time and shared a snap of a young Martin Luther King, Jr., writing, “My wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee and I will not be attending the Oscar ceremony.”
Lee added that he means “no disrespect to my friends, host Chris Rock and producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs and the Academy.”
“But, how is it possible for the 2nd consecutive year all 20 contenders under the actor category are white?And let’s not even get into the other branches. 40 white actors in 2 years and no flava at all. We can’t act?! WTF!!”
English (US)