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'Smug elitist': Eric Trump blasts Brad Pitt for Oscars speech and says Hollywood's elegance has been lost

Hollywood star said he was 'really disappointed' by Senate proceedings 

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Tuesday 11 February 2020 15:22 GMT
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Oscars 2020: Brad Pitt wins first award and is honored to ride on Leonardo DiCaprio's coat tails

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Eric Trump has labelled Brad Pitt a “smug elitist” after the actor used his Oscars acceptance speech to make a statement about Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

On Sunday, while accepting the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 92nd annual Academy Awards, Pitt said: “They told me I have only 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week.

“I’m thinking maybe Quentin [Tarantino] does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing.”

The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor was referring to the Senate’s decision to block the former national security advisor from testifying during the proceedings that acquitted the president.

Following the actor’s politically charged Oscars speech, the president’s son referred to Pitt as a “smug elitist” on Instagram, where he also appeared to blame the Hollywood star for the awards ceremony’s falling viewership.

Captioning a photo of Pitt accepting his award that had been titled “Oscars ratings fall 25 per cent to all-time low,” Mr Trump wrote: “Probably because Americans don’t like to be preached to by smug elitists.

“The elegance has been lost and America has tuned these people out of their homes…”

Mr Trump’s comments come after Pitt revealed backstage at the Oscars that he was “really disappointed” by the Senate proceedings last week.

Brad Pitt criticises Trump impeachment trial verdict

“I was really disappointed with that this week,” Pitt said. “When gamesmanship trumps the right thing, it’s a sad thing. And I don’t think we should let it slide. And I’m very serious about that.”

This year’s Oscars drew an estimated 23.6m viewers, the lowest rating in the show’s history, according to CNN. However, the low ratings have been blamed on factors including a lack of host for the awards ceremony and the show's failure to end on time.

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