Oscars 2024: Da'Vine Joy Randolph Wins Supporting Actress For The Holdovers Amid Plagiarism Row

Da'Vine Joy Randolph won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 96th Academy Awards for her role as Mary in Alexander Payne's The Holdovers. As her name was announced by the presenters, she broke into tears.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph beats Emily Blunt, America Ferrara 

She beat Jodie Foster (Nyad), Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), America Ferrera (Barbie) and Danielle Brooks (The Colour Purple) to win the honour. "I started off as a singer. My mom said to me go across the street to the theatre, there is something for you, " an emotional Randolph said from the stage.

Alexander Payne's The Holdovers is nominated in 5 categories, from which it has won in one as the Oscars night began. The other four categories for which the film is gunning are Best Picture, Best Actor for Paul Giamatti, Writing (Best Original Screenplay) and Best Film Editing.

The Holdovers grippled with controversy 

The Holdovers makers are facing accusations of plagiarism by screenwriter Simon Stephenson, popular for his work on Luca and Paddington 2. Stephenson has alleged that the story of The Holdovers has striking similarities to his unproduced screenplay for Frisco, which is about a cynical paediatrician who finds himself caring for a teenage patient over a period of days. In a mail written to the Writers Guild Of America, Stephenson said, "The evidence the holdovers screenplay has been plagiarised line-by-line from “Frisco” is genuinely overwhelming – anybody who looks at even the briefest sample pretty much invariably uses the word ‘brazen.’” 

According to Variety, Stephenson prepared documents comparing scenes from both screenplays as well as their overall structure. Variety, which made one of those documents public recently, reported Stephenson sent it to the WGA in January to seek help. According to one document, The Holdovers director Alexander Payne was sent drafts of the script in 2013 and 2019 in a bid to get him to board the project.