After the way, Barbie dominated the box office while simultaneously pleasing critics with its offbeat tale of patriarchy. Very few would have expected the film to not do well at the Oscars, Hollywood's most prestigious award ceremony.
While it is wrong to say that Barbie could not perform at the Oscar nominations, the event passed on two of the primary people who made the film stand out, director Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot Robbie.
Meanwhile, the film's supporting actors, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera, both got nominated for their respective roles, leading to massive outrage online, with fans even claiming that Gosling's nomination while leaving Robbie out was the literal plot of the film.
Shortly after star Margot Robbie spoke out on her Oscar snub, veteran actor Robert Downey Jr. also spoke out on this controversial decision of the Academy to leave out Margot Robbie, stating that she did not get her share of credit.
Speaking to Sterling K. Brown and William Dafoe about the SAG-AFTRA nominees, Downey said:
"Margot Robbie is not getting enough credit, in my opinion."
He also went on to expand on his views in the same interview.
Robert Downey Jr. praises America Ferrera's Barbie speech but believes Margot Robbie stands out
Margot Robbie's exclusion from the Oscars was perhaps one of the big shocks of the year, with many celebrities, including co-stars Gosling and Ferrera, Whoopi Goldberg, and even former US First Lady Hillary Clinton, commenting on the snub.
Robert Downey Jr., who has received a nomination of his own for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, spoke out about this development. The Iron Man star said:
"America [Ferrara] has this amazing speech. She nails it! That’s like a one act play. The whole movie hinges on it. But it’s the cuts away to Robbie so actively listening that I realize Greta [Gerwig] is really on to something here. It’s Robbie who had to trust ... and it’s hard when someone who has the f*cking two-page passage and they go, ‘Ok now let’s jump in and get [you],’ and you’re like, ‘I’ve been listening to this all day and now I have to make it work!"
Margot Robbie also responded positively to this snub, saying that she felt satisfied with Barbie achieving whatever it tried to achieve, emphasizing the effort of the team instead of individual achievements.
Barbie was nominated eight times at the Oscars, with only Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie notably missing out.
Still, Barbie will be competing for Best Picture and will hopefully walk out of the Oscars with a handful of prizes.
Obsessed with Crosswords, Wordle, and other word games? Take our quick survey and let us get to know you better!
