How Richard Gere ended up blacklisted from the Oscars for 20 years after his 1993 speech

In 1993 Richard Gere found himself at the center of a scandal during the 65th awards ceremony “Oscar”. Instead of limiting himself to announcing the winner, the actor publicly spoke about human rights violations in Tibet from China.

Addressing an audience of millions around the world, Gere asked rhetorically whether China’s then-leader was watching the ceremony. Deng Xiaopingand called on him to stop the repression of the Tibetan people.

The audience reacted with applause, but the management American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) perceived this gesture extremely negatively. Actor ignored autocue and broke the unspoken rule that the ceremony should remain outside of politics.

Then President of the Academy Bob Remy publicly rebuked Gere, saying the Oscars were for entertainment, not for making political statements on the international stage. Ceremony producer Gil Cates also spoke harshly, calling the actor’s action “complacent” and inappropriate.

The consequences were not long in coming. Richard Gere disappeared from the list of presenters of the ceremony and for almost two decades did not receive an invitation to appear on the Oscar stage. At the same time, according to Daily Mail and sources Page Sixthere was never an official ban on his presence.

Even in 2002, when the film “Chicago” with his participation became a triumphant ceremony, Gere was not allowed to go on stage. Only in 2013, after almost 20 years, he again appeared as a presenter, presenting awards together with his colleagues from the musical.

Later, the actor ironically commented on his “return”, noting that in Hollywood a lot of things are forgotten if enough time passes.

More than 30 years after the incident, Gere spoke in detail about what happened for the first time in an interview. Variety. He emphasized that he did not perceive what happened as a personal offense and did not see “villains” in this story.

The actor noted that his activism is directly related to his friendship with Dalai Lama and a commitment to combating anger, isolation and systemic human rights violations.

Gere admitted in 2017 that his stance on China and Tibet had negatively impacted his career as major studios feared conflicts with Beijing. The actor himself emphasized that he never regretted his action and did not attach much importance to his informal removal from the Oscars.

Today, the Academy officially maintains a list of those expelled for violations of the code of ethics. It includes, in particular, Will Smith, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and other persons involved in high-profile scandals. The story of Richard Gere remains an isolated case – an example of how political speech can have long-term institutional consequences, even without a formal ban.

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