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Credit: ABCJamie Lee Curtis finally won an Oscar after 45 years in show business. And Angela Bassett and her fans are not having it.
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The closest race at the 2023 Academy Awards was for Best Supporting Actress. Angela Bassett was the early favorite for her role as Queen Ramonda in Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), representing the entire Black Panther franchise and winning a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award.
When Kerry Condon won the BAFTA for The Banshees Of Inisherin (2022), things got shaken up. Then the road to the Oscars became even more muddled when Jamie Lee Curtis won the SAG Award for Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022), which was steadily–and successfully–accruing more Oscars buzz.
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Add on nominations for Hong Chau for The Whale (2022) and Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and you have a group of performers who all deserved to win big at the Academy Awards.
In the end, Jamie Lee Curtis won. While this was disappointing, plenty of people had Angela Bassett’s back.
“Hey, Auntie, we love you.”
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When Jamie Lee Curtis won, the usual applause and commotion came from her fellow nominees. Every nominee except Angela Bassett.
Bassett was visibly upset and did not applaud with the rest of the theater. And who can blame her? She had been here before. She was last nominated at the Oscars in 1993 for her performance as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It (1992) and lost to Holly Hunter in The Piano (1992).
Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors give a shoutout to Angela Bassett: "Hey Auntie, we love you." #Oscars pic.twitter.com/xIQlVq8AOZ
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 13, 2023
Immediately, Bassett started getting support. When Creed III (2023) stars Michael B. Jordan and Jonathon Majors went onstage to present the award for Best Cinematography, you could hear Jordan say, “Hey, Auntie,” followed by Majors saying, “We love you.”
“I better see her on that stage SOON.”
The support continued online, where social media was filled with fans of Angela Bassett lamenting the loss.
Angela Bassett’s reaction to Jamie Lee Curtis’ name being called…you can tell how much that Oscar would have meant to her. she is, was, and always will be incredible. I better see her on that stage SOON pic.twitter.com/oHDfuDUksG
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 13, 2023
Other people were less kind. One Twitter user said that, while she is a talented actress, Bassett was giving off “sore loser vibes.”
Angela Bassett is an amazing actress, but the sore loser vibe… 😕 It would be great to see women supporting each other, even in the face of disappointment (esp. during women’s history month)
— Magnolia Peach (@Peachalicious00) March 13, 2023
But fans quickly defended her, saying she was “allowed to be disappointed” and that people should stop “policing black women’s emotions.”
Folks like you love policing black women’s emotions. Delete this while you still can.
— TatayanaYomary (@TheTatyYomary) March 13, 2023
Some of Angela Bassett’s fans were willing to do whatever it took to get her that Oscar.
Me stealing the oscar to give it to Angela Bassett #oscars pic.twitter.com/KfkLUJo0h9
— ♈︎ (@bvbhive) March 13, 2023
The primary thing you can tell is that people are passionate. They love their favorite actors and want them to have all the success in the world. Unfortunately, this was Angela Bassett’s night.
It’s an excruciating loss because not only would it have been a well-deserved win by Bassett, but it also would have been the first performance in a Marvel movie to win an Oscar. Also, it would have served as a great tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.
Angela Bassett is an incredibly talented actress, as was everyone else nominated that night. Here’s hoping she gets that Academy Award soon.
Who do you think should have won Best Supporting Actress? Let us know in the comments below!