The nominations for the 2023 Oscars did not throw up too many surprises, but one unexpected star nominated for Best Actress was Andrea Riseborough, who was given the nod for her performance in To Leslie. While the nomination was certainly not underserved, a new report suggests that an investigation is underway to determine whether a viral campaign has violated the Academy’s guidelines around “lobbying.” If it turns out that rules were broken, the nomination could end up being voided.

As part of the Academy’s eligibility guidelines, only a small amount of direct contact is allowed with members who vote on nominations to avoid any accusations of favoritism. However, according to a report by Puck, the Academy is investigating whether a late-in-the-day push for a nomination by To Leslie director Michael Morris’ wife, which involved her launching a social media campaign and arranging private screenings for many of her celebrity friends such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, and Amy Adams, is in direct breach of the guidelines.

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There were certainly some who immediately raised an eyebrow when Riseborough’s name was announced, considering she and the movie have not been nominated in any of the other recent awards, including the Golden Globes, and expected possible nominees such as Viola Davis, Lesley Manville or Margot Robbie were all thought to have a much more likely shot at Oscar glory.

The Oscars Received Backlash From Till Director Following the Film’s Lack of Nominations

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Although this year’s Oscar nominations were praised for having a record-high number of Asian nominees, the lack of representation in other areas caused a wave of criticism. This included Till director Chinonye Chukwu, who shared her thoughts on her Instagram and slammed the Academy for ignoring the movie. In the statement, Chukwu said:

While some have argued that Till, and other movies snubbed by this year’s nominations lists, were simply not good enough to be considered for the top awards, the campaign that seemingly led to Riseborough’s nod is the one thing that has caused issues for the Academy’s process. As long as the suggestion that the direct social media campaign was the sole reason for To Leslie and its star being noticed, the controversy around the nomination will not go away.

“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women. And alas. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life - regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.”

However, when looking beyond the controversy of the social media campaign, the truth is that To Leslie may not have had many people shouting about it from the rooftops. Still, it did gain an almost perfect rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with Riseborough’s performance being singled out as outstanding. Whether that adds weight to the actress’ claim to the nomination over any accusations of misconduct is something that will only be decided by the investigation.