Oscars Defend In Memoriam Segment After Heavy Backlash Over Omitting Dharmendra, Eric Dane, Other Late Stars: Hard When Villainised

The 98th Academy Awards is at the centre of the backlash over not mentioning several late stars, including Dharmendra, Eric Dane and James Van Der Beek, among others, in the In Memoriam segment during the Oscars. After facing severe backlash, Rob Mills, the executive in charge of the Oscars broadcast, has now addressed the issue and defended the award ceremony. To note, this year's tribute segment was extended and had a runtime of nearly 15 minutes longer than the previous years. Despite that, the makers mentioned only a handful of late directors and actors and simply mentioned the names of the remaining on their official website. Not just this, they gave a personalised tribute to Hollywood legends, including Catherine O'Hara, Rob Reiner and Robert Redford during the show.

Rob Mills defends The Academy Awards

Speaking to Variety, Rob Mills explained that the decision to showcase whom to pay tribute to on television rests with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "It is hard. I think it’s the hardest thing they possibly do. It always is hard when they are sort of villainised for this," he added. Acknowledging the difficulty of including and omitting the names of the late stars from the In Memoriam segment, he said, "Yes, there are always people who are left out. Unfortunately, we’re losing more and more people, and especially, we’re losing legendary people every year, so it is probably the hardest needle to thread."

Despite that, he praised the tribute segment telecast and added, “I do think what they did last night might have been the best In Memoriam in the history of the Oscars.”

Hema Malini criticises the Oscars for missing out Dharmendra's name from the In Memoriam

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, the yesteryear actress expressed her disappointment and said, "It is a shame, of course. A shame for them to have overlooked an actor who means so many things to so many people in many parts of the world. Dharamji was known and recognized everywhere.”

Dharmendra died last year on November 24 at the age of 89 due to age-related health issues. He is survived by his two wives - Prakash Raj Kaur and Hema Malini - and six kids, including Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.

Also Read: Sanjay Dutt-Nora Fatehi's New Song Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke From KD The Devil Slammed Over Vulgar Lyrics, Angry Armaan Malik Calls It ‘New Low’