Those who expected Chadwick Boseman to win a posthumous Oscar at Sunday night's ceremony were left disappointed.
The "Black Panther" star, who died in August at 43 after an undisclosed battle with colon cancer, received a posthumous nomination for best actor for his performance as Levee in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom." The Academy Award went to Anthony Hopkins for his role in "The Father."
The Oscars, which typically end the show with the award for best picture, instead ended the show with the best actor award. Some saw rearranging the show as an indication Boseman would win.
User @blockbustedpod said the ending had “MAXIMUM chaotic energy.”
“Every single indication felt like they moved around the categories so that Chadwick Boseman would win best actor at the very end of the show. And then Anthony Hopkins wins, doesn’t give a speech, and they roll credits,” they tweeted.
Oscars 2021:Chadwick Boseman honored with special NFT artwork gifted to nominees
Dan Murrell called the new show order a “massively bad idea.” Murrell said it “overshadows the fact that both Anthony Hopkins and Chadwick Boseman were brilliant and one of them had to win. The spotlight is now shining solely on the producers. Huge mistake. From In Memoriam on, this show was a disaster.”
Matthew Levy said the ending channeled 2017’s chaotic Oscars envelope mix-up: “Chadwick Boseman not winning the Oscar has to be a 'Moonlight' mix up scenario.”
MSNBC’s Joy Reid said the Oscars had a “Game of Thrones style ending.“ She added, “Andra Day and Chadwick Boseman were robbed... #Oscars.”
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas disagreed with the decision. "Respect to Anthony Hopkins, but the Academy whiffed," he tweeted. "Chadwick Boseman as Levee Green will be remembered well into the future."
Boseman was honored with this year's gift bags. All nominees will receive one-of-a-kind digital artwork created by artist Andre Oshea to honor Boseman. The artwork will be redeemable by an NFT – a non-fungible token. The NFT itself will then be auctioned off by Rarible through Tuesday, with proceeds donated to The Colon Cancer Foundation.
Oscar speeches weren't played off this year. It meant Daniel Kaluuya got to shock his mom.
