Academy reviews Oscars rules after Andrea Riseborough’s online campaign

Andrea Riseborough’s recent Oscar nomination has thrilled fans – and seemingly unsettled the Academy.

On Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a review of its own campaign policies to determine whether voting guidelines “have been violated,” per People. Although not named, the news came just three days after Riseborough was unexpectedly nominated for Best Actress.

“The Academy’s goal is to ensure that the awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner,” the Academy said in a statement obtained by multiple media outlets.

“We are conducting a review of campaign procedures around this year’s nominees, to ensure that no guidelines have been violated,” he continued, “and to advise if any changes to the guidelines may be necessary in a new era of social media and digital communication.”

Although Riseborough already received an Independent Spirit Award nod for “To Leslie,” a drama centered on a breathless alcoholic single mother, most Oscar analysts — and Riseborough herself — don’t agree. hadn’t considered one of the best actresses this year.

“I’m stunned,” she told Deadline shortly after the nomination. “It was so hard to believe this could ever happen because we really hadn’t been in contention for anything else. Even though we had a lot of support, the idea that this could happen seemed so far away.

Many of Riseborough’s peers – including Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Christina Ricci – had taken to social media before the voting period ended to successfully lobby for her nomination. Ricci was the most high-profile star to double after the review was announced.

“It seems hilarious that the ‘surprise nomination’ (meaning tons of money wasn’t spent positioning this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being investigated,” he said. -she writes in a now-deleted Instagram post, per Deadline.

However, Variety noted that an official “To Leslie” Instagram page may have violated Academy guidelines two weeks ago. A since-deleted post quoted film critic Richard Roeper comparing the performances of Riseborough and Cate Blanchett, who is nominated for her work in “Tár.”

According to the rules, “any tactic that singles out ‘the competition’ by name or titles is expressly prohibited.” (Incidentally, Blanchett used her Critics Choice Awards win earlier this month to praise Riseborough.)

Additionally, the guidelines only allow movie studios to purchase one email send-out per week to promote their films — but the “To Leslie” campaign sent out at least three to voters, Variety reported.

If the Academy rescinded Riseborough’s nomination, only four contestants would remain: Blanchett (“Tár”), Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”).

The 95th Academy Awards will air March 12 on ABC.