Al Pacino breaks silence over that Oscars envelope saga - it wasn't him

July 30, 2024

Al Pacino has cleared up what went down at the Oscars when he reeled off the winner from the envelope for Best Picture instead of reading out all the nominees as per normal.

The film star really pushed aside award show etiquette this weekend. Al Pacino caused ‘chaos’, say fans, with how he went straight in reading out who won Best Picture instead of naming all nominees beforehand, which is the usual way of doing things. Those watching the Oscars found it hilarious how there was no suspense in the lead up, which sometimes is part of the fun. Nope, not this Hollywood star. But he’s come out to explain what happened and says it wasn’t him who decided to do it that way either.

Al Pacino says he was asked to just read from the Oscars envelope

The movie star issued a statement following a surge of questions over his appearance at the star-studded ceremony. The Academy Awards is seen the highlight of the award show season, and the ending of the biggest night was, well, anti-climactic.

In most cases, all nominees up for an award show trophy will be named, and celebrities in the audience applaud those who have made it onto the ballot. But this time, Al Pacino opens the Oscars envelope and just says ‘here it comes’ before naming Oppenheimer as the winner of Best Picture.

9 other nominees weren’t given a shout out as a result. Al simply said: “And my eyes see Oppenheimer”.

Now he’s released a statement as some fans were upset by this.

He said: “There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award.

“I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”

Therefore, Al has said he was told to do it by the Academy.

He added: “I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement. ”

They didn’t want it to ‘be too long’

I’m obsessed with the way Al Pacino announced Oppenheimer as Best Picture. couldn’t have been more chaotic or confusing lol

“Best Picture…uh, I have to go to the envelope for that. And I will. Here it comes. And my eyes see Oppenheimer?”#Oscars pic.twitter.com/a0hNQ4ZP7j

— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 11, 2024

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Thankfully, Al Pacino did come out to explain why he ripped the Oscars envelope open without giving a nod to the other films. Otherwise, fans may have assumed he didn’t care to appreciate the other nominees.

Molly McNearney, Oscars producer, told Variety it was a “creative decision”, backing up his statement.

She explained the creative team was “very worried that the show was going to be long”, if the 10 nominees in total, plus the clips, were shown again, after being played throughout the ceremony for other categories.

She added: “By the time you get to the end of the show, you’ve seen all 10 best picture clip packages.

“People just want to hear who wins, and they’re pretty ready for the show to be over. At least that’s what we anticipated. So, we did not give him a clip package. We did not give him nominations to read.

“I apologize if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot.”