Angela Bassett was “snubbed” at the Oscars following a surprise win for Jamie Lee Curtis in the Best Supporting Actress category.
During the 2023 ceremony, Lee Curtis took home the award for Best Supporting Actress, which drew gasps from the crowd due to the fact Bassett was considered the frontrunner.
In fact, Curtis was the third favourite behind Bassett and Banshees of Inisherin star Kerry Condon, who won the Bafta for Best Supporting Actress earlier this month.
While many are happy for Curtis, considering her lengthy Hollywood career, many are also expressing sadness for Bassett, who found herself in a similar position in 1992.
Bassett was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Tina Turner in biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It? in 1994, but was beaten by Holly Hunter, star of Jane Campion’s The Piano.
The actor’s fans are praising Bassett, who was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, following her underwhelmed reaction to the announcement. As Curtis celebrated her win, an emotional Bassett kept a blank look on her face, with many supporting her decision to not “feign excitement”.
“Angela Bassett’s reaction was for real,” one fan wrote, adding: “This woman has given so much to all her films for the Oscars to rob her yet again?!?”
“Angela Bassett deserves one and everyone knows that,” one fan wrote, adding: “Don’t get me wrong, Jamie Lee Curtis has phenomenal work but Angela’s Oscars is LONG overdue and it’s upsetting to see her get played in the face. The emotion when she lost, she had a blank face. She is amazing. She was SNUBBED.”
“Angela Bassett didn’t do the thing just to be snubbed like that,” one person said, referring to Ariana DeBose’s viral Baftas rap, which included the lyric: “Angela Bassett did the thing.”
Find the full list of winners at the 2023 Oscars here, and all the live updates from the ceremony here.