This year’s Academy Award nominations sent shockwaves online as some major contenders were left out of the running. Fans expressed their disappointment as Pamela Anderson, Nicole Kidman, and Challengers did not make the cut.
Meanwhile, the controversial musical drama Emilia Peréz is nominated for a staggering 13 awards, the most of the evening, with Wicked and The Brutalist trailing closely behind at 10 each.
Over the years, the Oscars have had a history of bypassing iconic stars and popular films, with some of the greatest actors and directors of all time never receiving the recognition they deserved, like Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, and Charlie Chaplin. Here’s a look at some of the biggest snubs in Oscar history, including this year’s exclusions.
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Some of the earliest snubs include the legendary Charlie Chaplin, who only obtained two honorary Oscars; one in 1929 and another in 1972, without any wins for masterpieces such as City Lights or The Great Dictator. One of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock, despite five nominations, never snagged the Best Director award.
Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe, known as the “blonde bombshell,” became an instant sex symbol during the ’50s and early ’60s. But despite her unforgettable roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some Like It Hot, she never clinched an Oscar, or even a nomination.
Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time, yet it was missing from the list of Best Picture nominees in 1969.
Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1982 film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was slated to win Best Picture, but was surpassed by Gandhi, whose director Richard Attenborough confessing “I was certain that not only E.T. would win, but that it should win.”
In 2006, it was speculated that Brokeback Mountain was overlooked due to homophobic bias, with rumors that some voters may have skipped the film entirely.
In recent years, Jennifer Lopez was overlooked for her work in the crime drama Hustlers, as well as Toni Collette’s bone-chilling performance in Hereditary.
Another shocking omission was actress Margot Robbie in 2023, who was snubbed as Best Actress for her work in the summer hit Barbie. The blockbuster’s director Greta Gerwig was also overlooked, with fans pointing out the irony in the fact that Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, was nominated while Margot and Greta were snubbed.
Greta was only the fifth woman ever nominated for Best Director for her 2018 film Lady Bird, but was notably rejected in the category for Little Women in 2019, despite the film garnering six different nominations including Best Picture. To this day, only ten women have ever been nominated in the category, with only 3 women taking home the trophy.
This year, fans were up in arms over Challengers, which starred Zendaya, being absent from the nominees list, with most of the outrage stemming from the fact that Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s score was not being recognized. The Best Original Score snub has been memed online by disgruntled fans.
Pamela Anderson, Daniel Craig, Angelina Jolie, Margaret Qualley and Nicole Kidman were not on the list, despite receiving praise from critics for their performances this year. Nicole, the acting tour-de-force who starred in Babygirl, has 5 nominations and one win under her belt.
Pamela’s performance in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl was lauded by critics and moviegoers for its raw emotional vulnerability and complexity, earning the former Playboy model Golden Globe and SAG nominations for her return to the big screen.
Robert Eggers, director of Nosferatu, was looked over yet again, after being snubbed for his directorial work in The Witch, The LIghthouse, and The Northman. With that being said, the horror genre has been historically excluded from the Academy Awards, with Silence of the Lambs being the only horror film ever to take home Best Picture in 1991.
The Oscars have a history of going against the grain when it comes to what critics and moviegoers consider to be award-worthy performances, with some of the most iconic Hollywood stars never getting the acclaim they deserve, and 2025 is no exception.
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