Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Oscars 2021: Nominees told Zoom attendance not an option

Oscars 2021: Nominees told Zoom attendance not an option

Nominees for this year's Oscars have been told that appearing by Zoom will not be an option.

In a letter to nominees, the show's producers said they had gone to "great lengths to provide a safe and enjoyable evening for all of you in person".

The ceremony will break ranks with this year's Golden Globes and Emmys where winners accepted their awards via Zoom as part of Covid-19 safety measures.

The 93rd Academy Awards are due to take place on 25 April in Los Angeles.

The letter, published by US showbiz website Deadline, laid out the vision of the awards from producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins.

"For those of you unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about travelling, we want you to know there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show," it said.

"We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and enjoyable evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts."

They said the event would include on-site Covid-19 safety teams with testing capability.

A Covid-19 testing centre is being set up at Union Station, LA, for the ceremony

"There will be specific instructions for those of you travelling in from outside of Los Angeles, and other instructions for those of you who are already based in Los Angeles," the letter said. "This will all come directly to you from the Academy to ensure you have a safe, carefree evening (a glimpse of the future?)"

The producers also asked nominees not to be casually dressed - another break from awards such as the Golden Globes where some winners appeared in very laid-back attire.

"We're aiming for a fusion of inspirational and aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not," the letter read.

Actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas read out the nominations on 15 March

The Academy itself - the body that oversees the Oscars - has promised an "intimate" ceremony carried out under strict Covid-19 precautions.

Proceedings will take place at both the Dolby Theatre, the ceremony's normal home, and Los Angeles' main railway hub, Union Station.

According to Deadline, the Academy will host a 90-minute preshow gathering at the Union Station courtyard for nominees and their guests.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
The Great Western Exit: Why Best Citizens Are Fleeing the Rich World [PODCAST]
The New Robber Barons of Intelligence: Are AI Bosses More Powerful Than Rockefeller?
The End of the Old Order [Podcast]
Britain’s Democracy Is Now a Costume
The AI Gold Rush Is Coming for America’s Last Open Spaces [Podcast]
The Pentagon’s AI Squeeze: Eight Tech Giants Get In, Anthropic Gets Shut Out [Podcast]
The War Map: Professor Jiang’s Dark Theory of Iran, Trump, China, Russia, Israel, and the Coming Global Shock [Podcast]
Labour Is No Longer a National Party [Podcast]
AI Isn’t Stealing Your Job. It’s Dismantling It Piece by Piece.
Lawyers vs Engineers: Why China Builds While America Litigates [Podcast]
Churchill’s Glass: The Drunk, the Doctor, and the Myth Britain Refuses to Sober Up From
Apple issues an unusual warning: this is how your iPhone can be hacked without you doing anything
The Met Gala Meets the Age of Billionaire Backlash
Russian Oligarch’s Superyacht Crosses Hormuz via Iran-Controlled Route
Gunfire Disrupts White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Trump Is Evacuated
A Leak, a King, and a Fracturing Alliance
Inside the Gates Foundation Turmoil: Layoffs, Scrutiny, and the Cost of Reputational Risk
UK Biobank Breach Exposes Health Data of 500,000, Listed for Sale on Chinese Platform
KPMG Cuts Around 10% of US Audit Partners After Failed Exit Push
French Police Probe Suspected Weather-Data Tampering After Unusual Polymarket Bets on Paris Temperatures
News Roundup
Microsoft lost 2.5 millions users (French government) to Linux
Privacy Problems in Microsoft Windows OS
News roundup
Péter András Magyar and the Strategic Reset of Hungary
Hungary After the Landslide — A Strategic Reset in Europe
×