O’Neal stunned at late girlfriend Fawcett’s omission from ‘Oscars In Memoriam’
By ANITuesday, March 9, 2010
LONDON - Farrah Fawcett’s log-time boyfriend Ryan O’Neal has expressed shock at the actress’s omission from the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” segment despite having been a member of the Academy for 40 years.
“It was a terrible decision and very hurtful - Farrah was a member of the Academy for over 40 years and we could not believe she did not get a mention,” the Herald Sun quoted O’ Neal, as saying.
The traditional video montage of stars who died in the past year including such familiar faces as Patrick Swayze, Brittany Murphy and Michael Jackson, but inexplicably omitted the Charlie’s Angels star.
His daughter and Oscar winner Tatum O’ Neal is also planning to join her father in insisting the Academy address the omission.
“Quite frankly, we were stunned at the decision not to include her in the tribute and I feel that the Academy should be scolded for that, everyone was shocked. Both Tatum and I were very upset and we intend to write a letter to the Academy to try and get an explanation for this oversight on their behalf,” O’ Neal said.
However, Fawcett’s exclusion wasn’t an accident, according to a spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“I would not say that it was an oversight. No matter how carefully and how conscientiously people address who is included, there are people who just simply can’t be,” said Leslie Unger, spokeswoman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“In any given year there will always be some people that other people think should have been included and that there’s more justification for one person versus another. It is impossible to include everybody,” she added.ans of Fawcett flooded networking sites with their grievances on Sunday.
Fawcett died on June 25, 2009, the same day as Michael Jackson, after a long battle with cancer. She was 62. (ANI)
