This year's Oscars is all about breaking tradition. When nominations were announced on Tuesday, the videos that accompanied the categories featured only women. Now, another change is making headlines. Typically, the winner of the Best Actor category from the year before presents the award for Best Actress the following year, and vice versa, but according to Deadline, 2017's Best Actor winner Casey Affleck has withdrawn from presenting at the 90th Oscars this March in light of previous allegations.
"We appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the show and on the great work of this year," an Academy spokesperson confirmed to Refinery29.
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This provides a great opportunity for the Academy to bring another woman up on stage, especially since women have been neglected by award shows in the past. What better way to support the #MeToo movement and reckoning in the industry than giving actresses a public place to support one another?
As the grande finale of award show season, audiences are anticipating a big statement from the Oscars in regards to Time's Up, which made its public debut during the Golden Globes when attendees wore all black and pins signifying their support of the movement. Pins also made an appearance at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, at which only women presented awards, and during Sunday's Grammys, those in attendance will wear white roses as a show of solidarity.
Many will be looking to the Oscars as a litmus test for how much Hollywood really has progressed since allegations against Harvey Weinstein first broke in October. It's up to the Academy (and those like Affleck) to decide how they're going to address the change rippling through the industry, but adding more women to the stage would definitely be a step in the right direction.
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