2020 Oscar Snubs we’re most upset about: Jennifer Lopez, Lupita Nyong’o and more

Another year of Oscar nominations, another year of Oscar snubs. Here’s the list of the biggest disappointments from Oscar nominations day.

Every year, the morning of Oscar nominations brings a lot of excitement and anxiety. While some nominations are seemingly locks based on prior awards, others are up in the air. You’ll be hearing about a lot of Oscar snubs in the coming weeks and there is a long list of candidates who qualify.

This was yet another disappointing year for women and creatives of color as most of the notable snubs come from these two groups. The Academy took action to correct the perceived slights after the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag took off, but it’s hard to look at the nominees this year and feel that much progress has been made.

The Farewell

After sounding like a film that would dominate the awards season upon its release, The Farewell has to be disappointed with the end results. The film missed out on every single Oscar nomination it was considered to be in the running for including: Best Picture, Best Actress (Awkwafina), Best Supporting Actress (Zhao Shuzhen), and Best Original Screenplay.

More from Awards

• Who is performing at the Academy of Country Music Honors? (List of artists)
• Are the Academy of Country Music Honors streaming on Peacock? (Where to watch)
• 2023 MTV VMAs performers list: Who’s performing at the Video Music Awards?
• What time are the 2023 MTV VMAs tonight? (Sept. 12, 2023)
• Where to stream the 2023 MTV VMAs (Is it on Peacock?)

Awkwafina was considered to be a consensus top 5 pick for Best Actress when looking at different prediction lists. GoldDerby.com gave her 15/2 odds. Coming off of her win at the Golden Globes, Awkwafina and her camp had to be feeling good about their Oscar chances but it was not to be.

Lupita Nyong’o

The person with the next best odds on that list was Lupita Nyong’o (Us). Nyong’o received widespread praise for her role in the Jordan Peele film. Most notably her role as the sinister Red which still haunts me to this day. She was not considered a lock by any sites, but she was one that was on everyone’s shortlist as the surprise nomination they’d most like to see.

Nyong’o won an Oscar as a supporting actress back in 2014 for her role in 12 years a Slave and there’s no doubt she’ll be back. The lone nominee of color in any of the acting categories was Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) who likely beat out Awkwafina and Lupita for the 5th spot.

Jennifer Lopez

That leads directly into our next Oscar snub, Jennifer Lopez. Lopez was intoxicating as Ramona in Hustlers. The epitome of a strong, independent woman. She was a supporting actress in this role but it was hard to not feel like the movie was about her. It was an overpowering performance and one that was good enough to land her a Golden Globe nomination, but not one at the Oscars.

She was considered to be even more of a lock than any of the other ladies mentioned for Best Supporting Actress. GoldDerby.com gave her 9/2 odds, tied for second with Margot Robbie (Bombshell.) Almost every site that I checked had her in their top 3. Having personally loved her performance, her snub is the one that hurts the most.

Rocketman

Considering the run of musician biographies that have been rewarded with nominations, Rocketman felt like a lock to receive several. Instead, they will go down as one of the biggest Oscar snubs in today’s announcements.

The list of categories they were snubbed in includes: Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor (Taron Egerton), Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. They were considered a top 5 pick for each of these categories.

They did not walk away with nothing however, as “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” was nominated for Best Song and is the favorite to win.

Other Notable Oscar Snubs

The list could go on for a while, but we would be remiss to not mention other notable snubs. Taika Waititi missed out on the Best Director nod for Jojo Rabbit. Robert De Niro (The Irishman), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is my Name), and Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems) were among the hopefuls for Best Actor.

Back to the theme of the ladies, Booksmart was considered a contender for Best Original Screenplay and Greta Gerwig (Little Women) was considered a top 5 contender for Best Director. All of these individuals missed the cut and this year it seems that the same seven or so movies were nominated for every award.

Who were your biggest Oscar snubs this year?