In an act of public contrition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued an apology to Hamdan Ballal, the Oscar-winning co-director of No Other Land, after facing mounting criticism for its initial failure to acknowledge the violent attack on him by Israeli settlers and his detention by the Israeli military.
The apology, signed by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang, came on the heels of an intense backlash, where the Academy was accused of not responding with the urgency and care warranted by the situation.
In a letter to Academy members, Kramer and Yang expressed regret for not issuing a direct statement in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which took place in the West Bank, where Ballal was reportedly beaten by Israeli settlers and later detained by Israeli military.
The attack, which occurred just weeks after No Other Land claimed the Best Documentary Oscar, has drawn widespread condemnation from film organisations. For its part, the Academy on Wednesday released a statement condemning “harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints.”
No Other Land’s co-director, Yuval Abraham, called the Academy's initial response a "silence on Hamdan’s assault."
More than 600 members of the Academy, including the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, and Emma Thompson, echoed this discontent by signing an open letter, saying the academy’s statement “fell far short of the sentiments this moment calls for” and urging a more robust statement from the institution.
The Academy's board of governors, convening in response to the uproar, ultimately issued an apology naming Ballal.
“We sincerely apologise to Mr. Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world,” they wrote to members. “We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances.”
After being held for over 20 hours, Ballal was released by Israeli soldiers. He and two other Palestinians were accused of throwing stones at a settler, which they deny. Following his release, Ballal told The Associated Press that a settler had kicked his head “like a football” during an attack on his village.
The Academy’s initial failure to address the matter is the latest incident in its history of public relations missteps. The Oscars have been no stranger to controversies over the years, and apologies have become part of the Academy’s lexicon.
La La Land and Moonlight
In 2017, the Academy found itself at the centre of the infamous La La Land and Moonlight mix-up. In a dramatic and very public gaffe, La La Land was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture winner, only for the correct film, Moonlight, to be revealed moments later. The gaffe became one of the most memorable blunders in the history of the Oscars, with producers scrambling to apologise to both the cast of La La Land and Moonlight for the fiasco.
Sacheen Littlefeather
Then there was the apology the Academy issued in 2022, over half a century after the event itself. That year, they formally apologised to Sacheen Littlefeather, who had been publicly humiliated during the 1973 Oscars for declining Marlon Brando’s Best Actor award in protest against Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans. In a letter to Littlefeather that was made public, David Rubin, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, wrote that "the abuse you endured was unwarranted and unjustified".
#OscarsSoWhite
Following the backlash to the lack of diversity among the nominees at the 2016 Oscars (a controversy known as #OscarsSoWhite), the Academy issued an apology and vowed to take steps toward improving diversity and inclusion within the voting body.
