By Peter Marsh.
There’s been more than just glitz and glamour at this year’s awards season.
Whether it was Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes or Mahershala Ali at the Screen Actors Guild awards, making a political statement in an acceptance speech is on trend.
And we’re about to have the biggest show of them all – the Oscars – with an audience of more than 37 million people.
If you’re going to make a splash, the time is now.
Here are the moments when this year’s Oscars are most likely to get political.
1. Best Foreign Language Film
One of the nominees for this category won’t attend the 2017 Oscars specifically because of Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Iranian Asghar Farhadi directed The Salesman and it was originally unclear if he would even be able to enter the US because of the ban.
He’s since spoken out, saying he won’t attend the ceremony no matter what happens with the ban.
Even if The Salesman doesn’t win, this category has been a flashpoint leading up to the ceremony. There were even calls to cancel the Oscars because of the controversy.
Chance it will get political: 10/10. No way this category passes without a comment being made.
2. La La Land wins anything
The musical has had all the buzz this awards season. It won seven Golden Globes and is up for 14 Oscars, meaning it’ll likely have more chances than most to make a statement.
One of the film’s producers Jordan Horowitz has already told Entertainment Weekly his acceptance speech will be political.