Oscars 2023: How the controversy around Andrea Riseborough’s nomination could change the way campaigning works
By the time the Academy Awards rolls out the red carpet each year, most stars in the running have spent months travelling the world, attending premieres and screenings, and schmoozing with industry VIPs to promote their films and themselves.
Oscars campaigning is a multimillion-dollar industry. While the Academy has strict rules to help ensure standout films and performances win fair and square, this year’s unexpected nomination of Andrea Riseborough in the best actress category has sparked debate about how the process works.
In the wake of the controversy, Academy president Janet Yang told Sky News campaigning rules will be revisited again following this year’s ceremony, with the “changing environment” of social media in particular to be looked at. “We are going to buckle down and look very closely at the regulations that have been with us for a while,” she said. “There are a lot of things that weren’t addressed in the current campaign regulations that we feel need to be addressed now.”
How does campaigning work?
Pic: AMPAS
Campaigning can include everything from advertising to red carpets to placing actors for the right interviews, all to build the narrative that a film and its stars are Oscar-worthy. Why do film studios do it? Well, there were 301 films eligible for this year’s Oscars – they need to get their films noticed.
The Academy has strict rules around “the annual rite” of campaigning, which include limitations on the number of mailings that studios can send, and also on promotional items, lobbying and parties.
Nominees are, unsurprisingly, banned from making negative or derogatory statements about their rivals in public. Penalties for those who breach the rules can include disqualification and any existing member of the Academy (typically a previous winner) could face suspension or expulsion.
Life on the campaign trail
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Everything Everywhere star on Oscars nod
At a reception for Oscar nominees held in London in February, a few days after an Oscars luncheon in LA, The Banshees Of Inisherin stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon rubbed shoulders with fellow acting nominees including Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, as well as industry bigwigs.
“It’s crazy!” Condon said when asked about the work that goes on in the run-up. “It’s like a whole other skill that you have to be good at, chatting to people and getting your picture taken and all sorts of things you wouldn’t think of as an actor. And you have to get good at them fast.”
For some, this is all good fun. Take Everything Everywhere All At Once star Quan, who has made no secret of his excitement. “The audience embracing the movie the way they did is beyond anything we ever imagined,” he said. “I’m enjoying awards season very much… it’s been a wild ride.”
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L-R: Filmmakers Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, David Seidler, Tom Hooper and Gareth Ellis-Unwin pose with their Oscars for The King’s Speech in 2011. Pic: AP/Chris Carlson
But it can be hard work. Producer Gareth Ellis-Unwin picked up his best picture Oscar for The King’s Speech in 2011 and is now an Academy Awards (and BAFTAs) voter. “It surprised me,” he says of the campaign for the film, which lasted for more than three months. “It was like running for local office.”
In 2016, former winner Susan Sarandon spoke out against the process, likening it to the race to become US president in terms of the cost and length. Speaking on a panel at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, she called for a reform to campaign finance. “People have to be available for months and someone has to pay for that,” she said.
Twelve years on from his win, Ellis-Unwin, who is now head of film and animation at the charity Screen Skills, says things are changing.
“Now you can bring a focus to a film project or TV show and not have the same marketing spend you had 10 years ago. Our distributors joked that it cost something like $30m to market our film for the award ceremony, which is twice the budget for the film.”
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Colin Farrell: Oscars ‘icing on the cake’
Why was Riseborough’s nomination a surprise?
The British actress’s nod for her performance in To Leslie – a small indie film in which she plays an alcoholic single mother who wins the lottery – was unexpected because there had been no substantial buzz surrounding her beforehand.
And because black actresses who did have that buzz – Viola Davis, for The Woman King, and Danielle Deadwyler, for Till missed out. While Davis, Deadwyler and others seemingly played the more traditional campaign game, Riseborough’s nomination came in the wake of praise on social media from A-listers including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Edward Norton.
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There is no suggestion Riseborough herself did anything wrong. But the controversy has raised questions over what campaigning looks like in the future, and reignited debates around opportunity and racism in the film industry.
Shortly after this year’s shortlists were announced, the Academy launched a review to ensure no campaign rules were broken. After a short investigation, the organisation said it discovered “social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern” surrounding To Leslie, but not to the level that Riseborough should lose her nod.
Yang told Sky News it was an “unusual situation” but that no rules were broken “based on the existing rules”.
Can voters really be swayed?
Gwyneth Paltrow was named best actress and Shakespeare In Love won best film, among other awards, at the Oscars in 1999
When it comes to aggressive campaigning, industry insiders say it began with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein; he reportedly started a whisper campaign against Steven Spielberg‘s Saving Private Ryan in 1999, when it was in the running for best picture alongside his own film Shakespeare In Love – which went on to win. The Academy has since tightened its campaigning rules.
Addressing the Riseborough controversy, Jenelle Riley, features editor for US entertainment publication Variety, says there is a “whole industry devoted to campaigning” but Academy voters will ultimately choose the films and stars they believe are worthy.
“The Academy is going to do what they want to do and they’re going to vote for what they want,” she says. “Nobody can force you to check off her name on a ballot. If people voted for her, it’s because they want to.
“Anyone who has seen To Leslie is not going to argue that she didn’t deserve to be nominated… the truth is, there’s just an embarrassment of riches. Part of me thinks they should increase the number of nominees.”
Can Riseborough win?
There could be a last-minute upset, but it seems unlikely. Not necessarily because of the campaigning investigation, but because the best actress category looked set to be a two-horse race between Cate Blanchett (Tar) and Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) even before the nominations were announced.
Cate Blanchett, who has supported Riseborough, is one of the favourites to win the best actress prize. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
“The nomination is the win” for Riseborough, says Matthew Belloni, former editor of The Hollywood Reporter and a founding partner of digital media company Puck.
However, he says he doesn’t believe the investigation harmed her chances. “If anything, I think she picked up some votes because people didn’t like that this campaign was castigated. Members I’ve talked to thought it was ridiculous that they were potentially being punished for this,” he said.
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Future rule changes?
Belloni describes the To Leslie campaign as innovative, having bypassed the traditional avenues of advertising, throwing parties and putting “the talent on a circuit of interviews and handshaking”.
Without a big budget behind them they instead built up support on social media.
Despite the Academy deciding not to take away Riseborough’s nomination, Belloni says he believes the scandal will lead to further rule changes limiting social media activity.
“I think it’s going to change things. I think we’re going to see new rules and it’s going to update the Academy code of conduct for the social media age,” she said.
You can watch the Academy Awards on Sunday 12 March from 11pm in the UK exclusively on Sky News and Sky Showcase. And for everything you need to know ahead of the ceremony, don’t miss our special Backstage podcast, available now, plus a winners special episode from Monday morning.
Entertainment
Gary Lineker says ‘right time’ to leave Match Of The Day as he hints of changes to show’s format
Gary Lineker has said it is “the right time” to leave Match Of The Day and hinted the BBC could change the format of the Premier League highlights show.
The 63-year-old will step down as host at the end of the season and described his time on the show as an “absolute joy and privilege”.
Speaking on his podcast, The Rest Is Football, he said: “It has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC.
“But all things have to come to an end.”
Lineker went on to say the broadcaster enters a new three-year deal to host top-flight highlights, and that to stay on for another 12 months “would be a bit weird”.
“I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.
“I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time.”
Lineker refused to speculate who would be taking his place, as rumours grew around Mark Chapman, the regular Match Of The Day 2 presenter, Football Focus host Alex Scott, and BBC sports coverage presenter Gabby Logan.
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“Obviously I don’t know who it’ll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don’t think that’d be the right thing to do – but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,” he said.
“I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam.
“…I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it’s a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.”
Lineker pictured with former MOTD host Des Lynam in 2009. Pic: PA
Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for more than a quarter of a century when he leaves in May 2025.
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He will continue with the MOTD Top Ten podcast alongside his podcast, which also features BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
The former England striker has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35m in the year 2023/24.
The BBC said future plans for Match Of The Day would be “announced in due course”.
Coach tickets to Glastonbury 2025 were sold out in half an hour, organisers have said, as they roll out a new booking system for festivalgoers.
They were the first group of tickets to be sold for the world-famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June.
This year, fans navigated a new system to buy the tickets as they were “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.
The organisers said in a post on X: “The Glastonbury 2025 tickets + coach travel which were on sale this evening have now all been sold.
“Our thanks to everyone who bought one.”
They added that National Express services would be available to bring festivalgoers from across the country to Glastonbury.
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Standard tickets will go on sale on Sunday at 9am. Last year they were sold out within an hour.
See Tickets said in a post on X that “confirmation emails are going out now to everyone who got @Glastonbury coach tickets this evening”.
Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.
The new ticket system has changed the way people join the booking system.
Organisers previously warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opened today and to avoid refreshing the page.
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Festivalgoers were also told not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.
The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.
Anyone wishing to buy tickets for Glastonbury must have registered by 11 November, a rule in place to avoid touting.
Entertainment
Christmas adverts – the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences
With just under six weeks to go to Christmas Day, the countdown has officially begun, with all the big brands rolling out their seasonal adverts.
Becoming something of an institution over recent years, many see the festive ads as the starting pistol for their Christmas preparation/panic, despite us only being halfway through November.
And with an estimated £10.5bn spent on this year’s Xmas ads, it’s not just about inducing a fuzzy warm feeling in viewers, but also about encouraging them to put their hand in their pocket.
As we brace ourselves for festive fun, we take a swift look at this year’s bevvy of commercial offerings, as the annual battle of the Christmas adverts begins.
John Lewis
A girl called Sally falls into a clothes rack reminiscent of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but instead of finding Narnia, she ends up in John Lewis.
Pic: PA
Through family flashbacks we lean how much she loves her older sister, whose gift she has carelessly left it to the last minute to buy. Spoiler alert – as one would expect in an advert for a retailer, she finds a pressie.
With the retailer famous for its use of cover versions in their Christmas ads, this one is the origin story for a new cover, with a concurrent competition on TikTok to find an aspiring artist to rerecord a version, which will be featured on the Christmas Day airing and released by record label BMG too.
Waitrose
Marketed as a whodunnit – this big-budget production has a host of celebrity cameos, an intricate storyline and not one but two parts.
Pic: Waitrose
Comedian Joe Wilkinson, Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen all have a role in the ensemble, revolving around hunting down the thief of a “chilled desert”.
Being Christmas, when tensions are traditionally high, everyone has reason to have scoffed it. The culprit won’t be revealed until the second part of the ad is released, but in the meantime, activity at Kings Cross Station, in stores and on social media is set to keep the investigation very much alive.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s goes big for its advert, calling on a beloved Roald Dahl character – the BFG, or Big Friendly Giant – to travel the country with a supermarket worker called Sophie (who pleasingly is a real store employee) in the search for the perfect festive treats.
Pic: Sainsbury’s
A CGI BFG procures salmon, sprouts and cheese before a bit of magic helps him whip it all up into a feast, which he then gifts to an unsuspecting family through the window.
The first ones to release their ad earlier this month, the dulcet tones of national treasure Stephen Fry wrap the action, with a call to arms to stock up in readiness for Christmas.
M&S
Another national treasure – Dawn French – is back for this one, playing both herself and a festive fairy, who gives both French and her home a make-over ready for a Christmas soiree.
Pic: PA
French, whose multi-Christmas-dinner eating antics on The Vicar Of Dibley put her into the Xmas annals, is transformed into “the quintessential hostess” with a bit of help from her little friend.
Banking on the idea that you can never have enough of a good thing, there are six instalments of the advert running between now and the New Year. Who doesn’t like a second – or sixth – helping.
Lidl
This one pulls on the heartstrings, with a little girl inspired to give a gift to a boy who appears not to have any, after an old lady gives her some magic bells.
Pic: Lidl
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (he directed The King’s Speech), a CGI racoon and giant gingerbread man add a little action to events around the dinner table.
But the take home message is to think about giving as well as receiving, with the return of the retailer’s toy banks scheme set up at supermarkets with the aim of donating over 100,000 toys, to ensure no child experiences a giftless Christmas.
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot is back for a ninth year running, this time trying to save the Christmas spirit from a bunch of hard-boiled humbug villains.
Pic: Aldi
With the ad narrated by actor Jim Broadbent, our plucky hero braves an oven, a Mission Impossible-inspired ventilation system and Bond-esque snow jet-ski dash across the mountains, all to save Christmas.
Helped by his wife Katie, he of course pulls it off. A fan favourite, soft toys of the root vegetable are sold in stores, and this year cuddly humbugs are on sale too.
Morrisons
It’s a song and dance number from Morrisons, courtesy of their singing oven gloves performing Bugsy Malone’s You Give A Little Love.
Pic: Morrisons
A choir of 26 Morrisons employees gave voice to the gloves, recording their rendition of the song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
Like Lidl, the retailer pulled out the directing big guns, hiring The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey to oversee proceedings.
Asda
Bagging the prize for the most gnome puns in one advert, Asda sees a flash mob of gnomes preparing the store for Christmas.
Pic: Asda
The resulting advert isn’t as irritating as it sounds on paper, thanks to nice performances by the two human characters in the ad – Maggie and Bill.
And as we know, Christmas is all about the merchandise, so the supermarkets are of course selling special Xmas versions of their garden gnomes to accompany their already 50-strong gnome range. Who knew?
Tesco
Tesco reminds us of those members of the family who are no longer here to join us on the big day, with a man carrying on his late grandmother’s festive tradition of baking gingerbread.
Pic: Tesco
He becomes obsessed with the spicy treat, as it infiltrates every part of his day from his haircut to a trip to see the Christmas lights.
He eventually gets together with his grandad to bake a gingerbread house, revealing it to the family at lunch, thus keeping the tradition alive.
Greggs
And in the most unlikely festive cameo of the year, Greggs has enlisted Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad.
Pic: PA
Rapturously endorsing their festive bakes, Lawson has her hands full of pasties, and her table full of take-away coffees, as she promotes the bakery’s festive-themed fare.
Whether or not you believe the 64-year-old TV chef really tucks into their sausage rolls in real life – the attention-grabbing collaboration looks like a wise move for the chain, whose sales have jumped in recent weeks as it continues its UK expansion.
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