The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that they won’t take any action against Andrea Riseborough and her Best Actress campaign for To Leslie.
“Based on concerns that surfaced last week around the To Leslie awards campaign, the Academy began a review into the film’s campaigning tactics,” reads a statement from Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded.” However, Kramer notes that they “did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly.“
Many hadn’t even heard of To Leslie until Andrea Riseborough received her nomination for Best Actress last week. The drama finds Riseborough playing a single mother who takes a job at a motel to turn her life around after she squandered her lottery winnings with drugs and alcohol. Rival Oscar campaigns claimed that those behind To Leslie used “aggressive tactics” to spread their message. Academy rules forbid individuals from giving “their personal signature, personal regards, or pleas to watch the film” when campaigning to voters, but there’s no evidence that Andrea Riseborough did so directly. Many celebrities pushed for Riseborough’s nomination, including Frances Fisher, who, in a since-deleted Instagram post, urged voters to pick Riseborough because their votes weren’t needed for four “safe” actresses, including Viola Davis (The Woman King) and Danielle Deadwyler (Till), who ultimately didn’t score a nomination.
The Academy issued a statement that they would be conducting a review of campaign procedures, and although they didn’t find anything that would warrant rescinding the nomination, it seems that some changes will be made moving forward. “The purpose of the Academy’s campaign regulations is to ensure a fair and ethical awards process—these are core values of the Academy. Given this review, it is apparent that components of the regulations must be clarified to help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning,” Kramer said. “These changes will be made after this awards cycle and will be shared with our membership. The Academy strives to create an environment where votes are based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible films and achievements.“