The Academy Awards has snubbed the controversial movie "Lee Daniels' The Butler," shutting it out in all categories while announcing nominations on Thursday and bypassing it while nominating only nine movies for the best movie honors instead of the 10 it could have submitted.
Actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs early Thursday announced the nominees for the
86th Annual Academy Awards, and "American Hustle," "Gravity," and "12 Years a Slave" led the nominations.
"Hustle" and "Gravity" each garnered 10 nominations, while "12 Years" has nine.
Other Oscar nominations for best picture went to "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Her," "Nebraska," "The Wolf of Wall Street," and "Philomena."
Story continues below video.
The move marks the second major awards show that has shunned "The Butler," with the
Golden Globes also failing to nominate the movie in any categories, despite going into the annual awards season as a critics' favorite.
The film opened this past summer, coming under fire for depicting late President Ronald Reagan as a racist and casting
Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.
The Screen Actors Guild has, however, nominated "The Butler" — the story of a black man from the South who served under eight American presidents over three decades — for a best ensemble award, for Forest Whitaker as lead actor, and for a supporting actress nod for Oprah Winfrey.
Winfrey has also been nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, or BAFTA, and the Critics Choice Awards for her return to acting after a 15-year absence to play the Butler's wife.
As far as the top acting nods, Whitaker was shut out in favor of Christian Bale in "American Hustle," Bruce Dern in"Nebraska," Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Wolf of Wall Street," Chiwetel Ejiofor in "12 Years a Slave," and Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club."
The Oscars ignored Winfrey in the supporting actress category, choosing to nominate, instead, Sally Hawkins for "Blue Jasmine," Jennifer Lawrence in "American Hustle," Lupita Nyong'o in "12 Years a Slave," Julia Roberts for "August: Osage County," and June Squibb, "Nebraska."
While "The Butler" topped the list of early favorites, it ended up not being on the American Film Institute's top 10 movies of the year list, noted
The New York Times in December, and Daniels himself has said he had initial trouble getting financing for his film.
"The Butler" is based on a story by Washington Post reporter Wil Hargood, who tracked down then-89-year-old former White House butler Eugene Allen for a piece to celebrate President Barack Obama's election.
The Academy Awards will air live on ABC on March 2 and will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.
Related Stories:
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.