The highly anticipated Oscars nominations were announced this week, and while some were expected - Oppenheimer is up for 13 awards, while Poor Things is just behind with 11. However, it's the Barbie nominations that have really had the internet talking.
The film scored 8 nominations, which includes a nod in the Best Picture category, and a handful of the film's stars are in the running for statuettes for their performances; America Ferrera is up for Best Supporting Actress, and Ryan Gosling is nominated for Best Supporting Actor. However, Margot Robbie was missing from the Best Actress list, and director Greta Gerwig was not nominated in the Best Director category.
It caused outrage online from fans of the film who were shocked that two of the key players behind Barbie - which was both a box office hit, raking in $1.4bn globally, and a cultural phenomenon - were not recognised for their work, with one person on X (formerly Twitter) explaining: "Greta Gerwig made a film that was critically acclaimed, culturally impactful, hilarious, unique, visually exceptional, perfectly cast and acted, left people laughing, crying and thinking AND made a billion dollars at the box office. But no Best Director nom."
Now, Ryan Gosling has called out his colleagues' Oscars snub in a statement, writing: "I am extremely honoured to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d being saying this, but I’m also incredibly honoured and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.
"But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.
"Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognised along with the other very deserving nominees. Having said that, I am so happy for America Ferrera and the other incredible artists who contributed their talents to making this such a groundbreaking film."
Co-star America Ferrera also expressed her disappointment in an interview with Variety, explaining: "Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list."
She added: "What Margot achieved as an actress is truly unbelievable. One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy, but Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honours of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did."
