Marc Maron Rips the Academy for Investigating Andrea Riseborough

On January 27th, the Academy said they would be “conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees” to make sure campaigning was “conducted in a fair and ethical manner” when it came to the Best Actress Academy Award. 

This is wild and unprecedented. 

While the Academy has never come out and said they're investigating Andrea Riseborough’s nomination for her performance in To Leslie, their words have made it pretty clear it is happening because of her. And people across Hollywood are up in arms over what seems to be a double standard set by the Academy between indie and studio film campaigns. 

Now, Riseborough’s co-star in To Leslie, Marc Maron, has decided it's not the time to stay silent on this issue. 

On his incredibly popular “WTF” podcast, Maron went on a rant against the Academy. 

He said, “Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences or whatever the fuck it is has decided to investigate Andrea Riseborough’s grassroots campaign to get her the Oscar nomination. Because I guess it so threatens their system that they’re completely bought out by corporate interests in the form of studios. Millions of dollars [are] put into months and months of advertising campaigns, publicity, and screenings by large corporate entertainment entities and Andrea was championed by her peers through a grassroots campaign, which was pushed through by a few actors.

Maron continued: "The Academy is [like], ‘Well, we gotta take a look at this. This is not the way it’s supposed to work. Independent artists don’t deserve the attention of the Academy unless we see how it works exactly. So, we’re going to look into this.' Nothing is going to happen because of [an investigation]. It was in earnest, the campaign, and it is not undeserving. But I’m glad the Academy — at the behest of special interest and corporate interest and paranoia about how they look — is doing an investigation. Who gives a fuck!”

That epic rant contains a lot of absolute truths. And it shows how tired actors have gotten of the double standard — and maybe of awards — in general. While Maron doesn't speak for everyone, his general sentiment is pulsating through Hollywood. 

There are massive PR machines behind every nomination, if anything the Academy should be celebrating grassroots networking, and other actors should take notice. This is a cool way to state your case. 

Let us know what you think in the comments. 

Source: WTF with Marc Maron Podcast