Whoopi Goldberg Defends Oscars After Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig Fail to Score Nominations: 'They're Not Snubs'

Mar. 15, 2025

Whoopi Goldberg in New York City on Oct. 17,2023; Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie in Sydney on June 30, 2023.Photo:Dia Dipasupil/Getty, Don Arnold/WireImage

Dia Dipasupil/Getty, Don Arnold/WireImage

Whoopi Goldbergis giving her two cents aboutBarbiestarMargot Robbieand directorGreta Gerwigbeing left out of theOscars2024’s Best Actress and Best Director nominations.

The EGOT winner, who previously won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990’sGhost, said on Wednesday’s episode ofThe View, “Here’s the deal: Everybody doesn’t win!”

“You know about the snubs … " saidSunny Hostin, to which Goldberg, 68, responded, “Well, but they’re not snubs. And that’s what I want to sort of point out.”

“And it’s not the elites — it’s the entire family of the Academy who vote for Best Picture nominations. We all vote for Best Picture, everybody,” she went on. “So there are seven to 10nominations that happen, and you don’t get everything that you want to get.”

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While Goldberg and Hostin’s co-panelistAlyssa Farah Griffinexpressed her excitement overRyan Goslinglanding a Best Supporting Actor nod and praised his “allyship,” she added of the Academy, “Did thy miss the whole moral of the story ofBarbie?”

She also noted howBarbie,which was thehighest-grossing movie of 2023, made “over a billion dollars” at the box office. (According toBox Office Mojo, the global total sits around $1.45 billion.)

“Like, ‘Hello, studios, maybe hire more female directors if you want to produce blockbusters,’ " Farah said. “We’re half the population; we turn out, we want to see these.”

Despite not being named as a Best Actress nominee at this year’s Oscars, Robbie, 33, has secured numerous awards this year for her lead role inBarbie, including acting nods at both theGolden Globe AwardsandCritics Choice Awards. She is eligible for an Oscar this year as a co-producer of the film, since it is up for Best Picture.

Ryan Gosling, Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie in Los Angeles on June 25, 2023.Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

In previous years, Gerwig — who co-wroteBarbiealongside her now-husbandNoah Baumbach— landed a Best Director nod for 2017’sLady Bird, her debut, though she was not nominated for her other film, 2019’sLittle Women. She did earn writing nods for both of those films.

ForBarbie, Gerwig, 40, earned directing nominations from the Directors Guild of America, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards earlier this year. She and Baumbach, 54, are nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the upcoming Oscars.

There were many nominations Tuesday that showcased a notably diverse class of nominees. Among the history-making nods this year areKillers of the Flower MoonBest Actress hopefulLily Gladstone, who is the thefirst Native American actress to be nominated for an Oscar. Many other stars are also marking their first-ever Oscar acting nods, includingEmily Blunt,Jeffrey Wright,Sterling K. Brown,America FerreraandCillian Murphy.

Nine women are up for awards in the Best Picture category, and one woman —Anatomy of a Fall’sJustine Triet— is in contention for Best Director.

Triet, 45, is the eighth woman to benominated in the category(only three have won:Jane Campionin 2021,Chloé Zhaoin 2020 andKathryn Bigelowin 2009). And one-third of nominees across all categories this year are women — higher than the last three years.

Margot Robbie inBarbie(2023).Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.

Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros.

While the dad of two added that he was “extremely honored to be nominated,” Gosling said thatthere is “no Ken without Barbie. And there is noBarbiemovie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.”

He went on to call Gerwig and Robbie “the two people most responsible for this history-making globally celebrated film.”

Ferrera, who played Gloria in the film, also revealed thatshe was “incredibly disappointed”her fellow female colleagues did not receive mentions.

Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie in Sydney on June 30, 2023.Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

The actress, 39, toldVariety, “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it. Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

As for Robbie, who has received two Oscar acting nominations in the past (Best Actress forI, Tonyain 2018 and Best Supporting Actress forBombshellin 2019), Ferrera told the outlet that what she achieved as an actress is “truly unbelievable” inBarbie.

“One of the things about Margot as an actress is how easy she makes everything look. And perhaps people got fooled into thinking that the work seems easy,” theSisterhood of the Traveling Pantsstar said.

“But Margot is a magician as an actress in front of the screen, and it was one of the honors of my career to get to witness her pull off the amazing performance she did,” Ferrera added toVariety.

source: people.com