Christina Ricci slams Academy as ‘backward’

Christina Ricci has slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ upcoming review of nominees as “backward”.

The 42-year-old actress responded to the news that the awards body – which is set to be conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees” following Andrea Riseborough’s surprise nomination in the Best Actress category for her role in ‘To Leslie’ – noting that the action taken following their “surprise nomination” following a campaign as a “hilarious” movie.

She wrote on Instagram: “Seems hilarious that the ‘surprise nomination’ (meaning tons of money wasn’t spent to position this actress) of a legitimately brilliant performance is being met with an investigation. So it’s only the films and actors that can afford the campaigns that deserve recognition? Feels elitist and exclusive and frankly very backward to me. And I’msure she had nothing to do with the campaigning. These things aren’t controlled or decided by the actors themselves and yet now her nomination will be tainted by this. And it’s taken away shame on them.

The comments come just a day after the Academy revealed it was attempting to “ensure that guidelines were violated” with the campaign that took place to get Andrea Riseborough her nomination.

In a statement, they said: “It is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner, and we are committed to ensuring an inclusive awards process,. We are conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees, to ensure that no guidelines were violated and to inform us whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication.”