And they did it again at this year’s Academy Awards; which has a sordid history of being a soapbox for self-indulgent narcissists to show their consistent hubris and foolishness. 

This year, the director of the Best International Feature, Jonathan Glazer, most demonstrated the insanity when he spoke for his partners and said, “We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness in a holocaust being hijacked by an occupation." Clearly, they refuted being Jewish long ago and are painfully unaware of the irony of the statement: had they been in one of the areas attacked by Hamas, they would now be dead or hostages.  

And Glazer seems oblivious to the fact that close to 90% of Gazans still support the horrors of October 7 and the charter of Hamas, which calls for the “obliteration” of all Jews, as well as anyone who doesn’t support their fanatical brand of Islam. But hey, it’s the Oscars and a time for film people to show their stupidity.

The Oscars, which by definition are self-indulgent (an award show congratulating yourselves for doing your job?), have in recent years become an opportunity for actors to show off their ignorance about the world loudly. Here is a brief list of their “brave political statements” that have been on the wrong side of history:

• 
  In 1975, Bert Schneider produced “Hearts and Minds,” and in his acceptance speech for best documentary, took his time to read a message from a leader of the Viet Cong. Frank Sinatra came out afterward to chastise Schneider and clarify that the Academy is not a political organization. (Boy, could we use Old Blue Eyes now.)
• 
  In 1978, Palestinian supporter Vanessa Redgrave was booed when she spoke about “Zionist hoodlums." At the time, most of the world recognized the goals and terrorist methods of the Palestinians.
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  By 2003, political statements were a mainstay at the Oscars, with many actors, from Andy Serkis to Susan Sarandon, protesting the Iraq War. It peaked that night when Best Actor Adrien Brody (after planting an unwanted kiss on Halle Berry) used his time to talk about “the dehumanization of people” and asked that everyone “pray to God or Allah for peace." Besides being offensive, it showed his ignorance (and islamophobia?) of not realizing that for Muslims, Allah is just the Arabic word for “God,” and there is no distinction.
• 
  In 2003, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore used his entire acceptance speech to attack President Bush and call him a “fictitious President."
• 
  2016 found winner Leonardo DiCaprio preaching about climate change after he had traveled to the Oscars in a private jet.
• 
  2016 also was the year that the Oscars were boycotted by black actors like Will Smith and his wife Jada because there were not enough black nominees. This was the year when DEI fully took over Hollywood, resulting in films and hires that were based on race, sexuality, etc., as opposed to talent. It marked the complete turnaround from the 1980s when Whoopi Goldberg’s agent proudly got her acting jobs that were originally written for white men but for which she had the best audition. He insisted on her getting jobs because of her talent, not her race.
• 
  The entire 2022 Oscars was about supporting Ukraine, with dozens of nominees and winners demonstrating for Ukraine. The Academy even paid an official tribute to Ukraine.

But my two favorite proofs of the idiocy of the Oscars both happened in the last few years. Harvey Weinstein was the Academy’s darling. Nominations abounded, and he was considered the nicest man in Hollywood… up until the #MeToo movement. For years, the Academy honored him professionally and personally, and star after star used their acceptance speech time to sing his praises. And then… Oops, let’s not talk about that sexual predator.

And who can ever forget how the Academy was fully committed to Black Lives Matter. The 2021 Oscars were effectively a BLM rally. Host Regina King dedicated her opening monologue to George Floyd and BLM. On the stage, the red carpet, and the after-parties, there was one comment after another about how great and needed BLM is. A mere three years later, we now know that BLM leaders personally scammed tens of millions of dollars, caused hundreds of millions of dollars of property damage, and publicly celebrated the horrific depravities of October 7 while supporting Hamas.

So, there really were no surprises at the Oscars this year. Oblivious to the irony that they couldn’t get to the Dolby Theater because of pro-Hamas supporters, hundreds of actors and filmmakers wore red ribbons in a show of support for Hamas. And apparently, there was not one yellow ribbon of support for the 134 hostages, not one public supporter of people who have been kidnapped for over five months, brutalized, repeatedly raped (and if they are younger women, probably now pregnant), or dead.

Image - Reuters