Oscars criticised for excluding notable Hollywood stars from In Memoriam tribute

Their names were left off the televised tribute

The 2023 Oscars are being criticsed for omitting several key names from the In Memoriam segment.

During the ceremony on Sunday (12 March), Lenny Kravitz performed “Calling All Angels” as a screen behind him showed a montrage of notable figures from the world of film to have died in the past year.

These included Olivia Newton John, Ray Liotta, Angela Lansbury, Jean-Luc Godard and Irene Cara.

Other stars to be featured in the segment were Burt Bacharach, Nichelle Nichols, Kirstie Alley and Racquel Welch.

Find the full list of winners here, and all the live updates from the ceremony as it happened here.

The end of the video prompted viewers to visit the Acaemy’s website to see additional names that never made it onto the main video, which has led to criticism.

Among those left out were Charlbi Dean, the rising star who was the female lead in Best Picture-nominated film Triangle of Sadness. Dean died suddenly aged 32 last year.

Volcano and Donnie Brasco’s Anne Heche was also left off, as was British star David Warner (The Omen, Titanic) and Goodfellas actor Paul Sorvino.

Chaim Topol, who was Oscar nominated for Fiddler on the Roof, in 1982, died last week, but producers didn’t find a space for him in the main segment.

Naturally, the ommissions have led to anger on social media, with many stating that they should have made the section longer to include them.

The Independent has contacted the Academy for comment.

Charlbi Dean died in 2021 (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

John Travolta introduced the segment, and was visibly emotional as he referred to his “friend” and Grease co-star, Newton John.

The 2023 ceremony saw big wins for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which took home seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh.

Curtis’s win proved controversial due to Angela Bassett’s loss in the category. However, the actor, who was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, has been praised for her “real” reaction after learning the news.

Host Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the Los Angeles event with an opening monologue that saw him poke fun at Avatar director James Cameron, last year’s Will Smith slap and, in what was deemed a “low blow” by viewers, the poor box office performance of Babylon.

Meanwhile, Hugh Grant ruffled feathers before the ceremony had even started with his “rude” answers during a “painful” red carpet interview.