Setting the record straight. The Academy revealed their reason for failing to feature the likes of Luke Perry and Cameron Boyce in the 2020 Oscars’ “In Memoriam” segment on Sunday, February 9.
“The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars ‘In Memoriam’ segment,” the organization told Us Weekly in a statement. “An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time. All the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year.”
Perry and Boyce are currently featured in The Academy’s 164-slide tribute gallery alongside other late stars, including Tim Conway, Sid Haig, Orson Bean and Michael J. Pollard.
During Sunday’s ceremony, Billie Eilish hit the stage at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater to perform “Yesterday” by The Beatles as the three-minute tribute played. Kobe Bryant, who perished in a tragic helicopter crash two weeks earlier, was featured in the segment and so was Kirk Douglas, who passed away just days before the prestigious affair.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum lost his life in March 2019 after suffering from a stroke at age 52. The former Disney Channel actor, for his part, passed on at 20 years old after experiencing a seizure in July 2019. Considering the impact these devastations had last year, disappointed fans opted to lodge their complaints against The Academy via Twitter.
“Luke Perry wasn’t in the In Memorial?? He was literally in one of the most nominated films of the night!! Disrespectful,” one fan tweeted, referencing Perry’s role in the 10-time Academy Award nominated film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
“Kinda sucks that the #Oscars didn’t include Luke Perry or Cameron Boyce in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment,” one fan wrote, while another tweeted, “I say we snub the Oscars like they snubbed Luke Perry & Cameron Boyce.”
Skai Jackson, Boyce’s Jessie costar, said, “Cameron Boyce??? Why did you guys forget about him? It would have been nice if he was acknowledged… Smh. #Oscars.”
Tori Spelling, Perry’s former 90210 costar, even stepped in to express her dissatisfaction with The Academy. “Now two of the most creative and talented men I have ever known, loved, and lost have not been mentioned in the #oscars memoriam,” she tweeted on Monday. “First, my Dad Aaron Spelling who passed in 2006 and now my friend Luke Perry who passed in 2019. 😢”
