 "Oscars 2024: Did the winners of the night Robert Downey Jr. & Emma Stone disrespect Asians? Here's why the backlash happened")
The buzz around the 96th Academy Awards seems far from over. Days after the prestigious event celebrated the best films and artists of 2023, the two winners of the year, Robert Downey Jr and Emma Stone, are caught up in the controversies. Following the Oscars 2024, netizens began criticising Downey and Emma for seemingly ignoring Asian stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan while accepting their awards at the ceremony held on March 10 in Dolby Theatres, Los Angeles.
The backlash against Downey Jr comes in the aftermath of his ignorance towards Quan who was one of the presenters honouring him in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in _Oppenheimer_ . Quan, who was named best supporting actor at last year’s ceremony was not acknowledged by the Iron Man actor while handling the trophy to him. Instead, Downey Jr approached Tim Robbins and Sam Rockwell to greet them.
Downey jr ’s actions prompted viewers to express their disappointment on social media. Some of the users even called him “arrogant” and “disrespectful.” One of them, while highlighting the actor’s behaviour, wrote, “Robert downey jr. could’ve took one second or even acknowledge Ke Huy Quan while on stage, who was presenting an award to him personally… this sh*t was so disrespectful idc.”
Another mentioned, “How arrogant. He completely ignored Ke.”
Not just Downey Jr but the La La Land actress Emma Stone also invited the wrath of netizens for her distinct behaviour with Michelle Yeoh. Stone was presented with the Best Actress award for her role in Poor Things. The trophy was presented to her by Yeoh along with Jennifer Lawrence, and Sally Field. The actress appeared to say “thank you” to Yeoh as she handed the trophy to Jennifer Lawrence before they both passed it on to her. Stone went on to hug Lawrence and Field. However, she circled back to touch Yeoh as well as presenters Charlize Theron and Jessica Lange before giving her acceptance speech.
This led to a wave of anger among the social media users who started calling out Stone for supposedly “ignoring” Yeoh. However, some of them were also confused about what really happened.
Later, Yeoh dropped a post on her Instagram handle and explained why she handed the trophy to Lawrence before presenting it to the Oscar winner. In her write-up, she clarified, “Congratulations Emma!! I confused you, but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over [your] Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!! She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis. Always there for each other!!”
The backlash against both Emma Stone and Robert Downey Jr is a testament to the scrutiny that the actors are constantly under.
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