Oscars 2022: Fans ‘very annoyed’ after Ryusuke Hamaguchi cut off during acceptance speech

‘I don’t want to hear another awards show talk about how they value diversity ever again after cutting off Ryusuke Hamaguchi 15 seconds into his speech,’ one fan wrote

Fans were “very annoyed” at the Academy Awards after Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi was played off during his acceptance speech for the Best International Feature.

Hamaguchi won the category for his critically acclaimed film Drive My Car, which is also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar alongside Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson), Belfast (Kenneth Branagh), and The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion).

Hamaguchi and his drama are also nominated in the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar categories.

If Drive My Car wins Best Picture, it will become the second non-English language film after Parasite (2020) to ever win the category.

While accepting the Best International Feature Oscar, Hamaguchi thanked his various collaborators, the film’s actors and distribution partners before the band – with Travis Barker on drums – cut the director off mid-speech.

However, Hamaguchi objected while on stage, indicating he wasn’t done, and continued speaking for a few more moments.

Fans reacted to the alleged snub, writing that it “truly, truly sucks” that the Oscars had “disrespected” the director at the ceremony.

One social media user tweeted: “The disrespect to Ryusuke Hamaguchi… Cutting him off twice and pushing him off the stage. Very annoyed.”

Another criticised the Oscars’s perceived diversity push with a tweet that read: “I don’t want to hear another awards show talk about how they value diversity ever again after cutting off Ryusuke Hamaguchi 15 seconds into his speech.”

The Academy Awards have often been condemned for the lack of representation for actors and directors of colour, LGBT+ talent, and women in Hollywood.

One fan said they had “mad respect” for the Best Director contender being able swing enough time to thank everyone on his list, writing: “Second best part of the show so far is Ryusuke Hamaguchi successfully convincing the play off music to stop while he thanks more people in his acceptance speech. He almost got them to stop a third time!”

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Click here for a list of the winners, updated live as the ceremony progresses.