For the second year in a row, the Academy has turned down Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's request to speak at this year's ceremony, reports said.
Zelenskyy’s overtures to the Oscars comes as polls show Americans’ support for providing assistance to Ukraine has weakened, Variety reports.
The Variety quoting sources said that WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment.
Meanwhile, the report noted that the Academy isn’t the only group to refuse Zelenskyy. In September, Zelenskyy’s team reached out to the Toronto Film Festival about the leader appearing via satellite, but they were denied.
In recent months, according to Variety, Zelenskyy’s team enlisted Simpson, who reps such heavyweights as Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho, to make overtures to the Globes and re-engage the Academy after last year’s rejections. While the Globes embraced the idea and gave Zelenskyy several minutes of airtime, the Academy wasn’t interested. In an added personal twist, Simpson’s son Tommy collaborated on a song for “Superpower” with Ukrainian actress-pop singer Tina Karol.