The 93rd Academy Awards took place last night and in what was easily the biggest shock of the ceremony, and one of the most unexpected results in recent memory, Chadwick Boseman didn’t land a posthumous Oscar for his incendiary turn in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, with Anthony Hopkins winning for his powerful and heartbreaking role in The Father instead.
The late Black Panther star was the overwhelming favorite going into the night, having scooped the corresponding prizes at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice and Screen Actors Guild Awards, with the BAFTAs the only major awards body to have recognized Hopkins. It came even more out of the blue when the telecast changed up its format this year to hand out the acting gongs last, leading many to believe the decision was made specifically so that the show would be closed out with Boseman’s coronation.
Naturally, the internet has had a lot to say about him being snubbed in favor of Hopkins, with the 83 year-old screen legend picking up his second Best Actor win three decades after The Silence of the Lambs, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
Why the fuck did Anthony Hopkins win best actor when Chadwick Boseman gave the performance of his life in Ma Rainey’s and literally anyone else in that category was more deserving over that old guy. Fuck the oscars man
— Eiman Elsir 🧕🏽 (@eiman_elsir) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/BayAreaData/status/1386558845732806656
https://twitter.com/willbereborn/status/1386558280047206402
How dare you for snubbing Chadwick Boseman posthumously. He deserved that Oscar even if he was still with us! That performance broke me. How dare you. Fuck you. I’m done. pic.twitter.com/5fzh68OVWC
— S.J (@bruceparker88) April 26, 2021
Chadwick Boseman was absolutely robbed of the Oscar. Smh. Anthony Hopkins? Really?
— 🌻𝓝𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓜𝓸𝓷𝓲𝓺𝓾𝓮🌻 (@NessMonique) April 26, 2021
Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis were robbed.
Swapping Swapping Best Actor to the end was shady af.
I'm glad for Daniel Kaluuya.
The Academy is still reluctant to see actors of color succeed as anything other than supporting players.#Oscars
— 𝕂𝔼𝕄𝔼𝕀𝕌ℕ ℝ𝔼𝕏 (@yourlittldogtwo) April 26, 2021
Chadwick Boseman gave a better performance than Anthony Hopkins who is totally overacted in my opinion. Chadwick Boseman deserved to win the #Oscar.#Oscars #OscarsSoWhite
— Karl (@FilmsKarl) April 26, 2021
Are you serious #Oscars ? You had one thing to do this year, which was to honor Chadwick Boseman with Best Actor. The only sure thing this year, and you gave his Best Actor trophy to Anthony Hopkins for a movie NO ONE saw.. and Hopkins didn’t even show up?! Ridiculous #Oscars2021 pic.twitter.com/Bl5tWohcmD
— Andy Signore (@andysignore) April 26, 2021
They build the entire show around a Chadwick Boseman ending and then Anthony Hopkins won and didn't show up
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/fairiebread/status/1386555943924629511
While a lot of the hot takes inevitably accuse the Academy of institutional racism and bias towards old white guys, it should be pointed out that Chinese-born Chloe Zhao picked up a pair of gongs after Nomandland won Best Picture and Best Director, while Daniel Kaluuya and Youn Yuh-jung were named as Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively, with Emerald Fennell becoming just the fifth woman to win Best Original Screenplay thanks to Promising Young Woman.
Hopkins wasn’t even present at the Oscars either in-person or virtually, which made the chaotic ending more of a shocker, especially when the majority of insiders, analysts and viewers were fully expecting Chadwick Boseman‘s legacy to be cemented by Academy Awards glory.
