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Ryan Kiera Armstrong and Zac Efron in the movie »Firestarter«: Sorry for raspberry mockery
Photo: LMKMEDIA / ddp images
The Golden Raspberry Awards have been presented since 1981, a kind of anti-Oscars – the ceremony takes place on the eve of the Academy Awards Gala – in which the particularly poor performances of the film year are honored.
The outrageous prices are usually accepted as cheerful mockery;
an actor who has won multiple (laudatory!) awards like Tom Hanks, who has been nominated three times for Golden Raspberries in 2023, will take it sportively.
However, only a few winners have accepted the trophy in person: Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock are among the few exceptions.
This year, however, after the nominations were announced (also a day ahead of the Oscars), there was loud protest on social media and in articles.
Not because the Marilyn Monroe biopic "Blonde" was called so many times.
No, it was about Ryan Kiera Armstrong being nominated in the Worst Actress category for her role in the sci-fi thriller Firestarter.
Armstrong is only twelve years old.
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Actress Armstrong at a PR appointment in October 2022: "We were very insensitive in this case"
Photo: Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Treating a child like this is "monstrous," it said on social media, in which other child stars also spoke out: "The raids are mean anyway and have little class," wrote WandaVison actor Julian Hilliard on Twitter, " but nominating a child is just gross and wrong.
Why put a kid at risk of increased bullying?
Mend yourselves!” Critics like Jacob Stolworthy of Britain's The Independent took a similar line, even calling for a complete end to the raids.
Now John B. Wilson, the initiator of the shameful prices, has reacted.
He issued a public apology to the young actress and regretted any pain the raid jury's decision had caused.
"We were very insensitive in this case," Wilson said in the statement, quoted by US industry media.
Armstrong's name was removed from the nomination slip from which the award winners were selected.
In addition, a new regulation will be introduced, according to which no actors or filmmakers under the age of 18 may be nominated in the future.
In fact, the case of the "Firestarter" actress is not without history: child stars have been nominated for Razzies before, such as Jake Lloyd for "Star Wars Episode 1" or Macaulay Culkin, who was nominated three times in 1995.
Razzies co-founder Wilson argued in his defense on Buzzfeed that despite her young age, Armstrong is already a seasoned actress.
Still: »We wanted to be funny.
And in this case, we clearly went wrong.
I have to admit that.«
In 2022, the Razzie organizers took back the Golden Raspberry that had been awarded to Bruce Willis.
"If medical conditions are a factor in a person's decisions or performance, then it's not appropriate to give them a roundup," it said after discovering Willis's aphasia.
Feb