# Has an Oscar ever been revoked??
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 27, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431 "2003-04-27T02:05:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SRB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRB)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/1 "2003-04-27T02:05:48Z")
Please forgive me if this has been asked already, but this is an emergency! LOL I can’t recall that any ever have, but can it be done? Is it possible??
Waiting with bated breath!!!
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/2 "2003-04-27T02:25:52Z")
I seem to remember that there was an error in the vote tally one year that they figured out some time later and they had to take the Oscar from someone and give it to the real winner. That was what prompted the big deal that they make about the accountants who now certify the results. Google is cooperating right now so I could be full of crap.
Haj
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/3 "2003-04-27T02:27:55Z")
Doesn’t sound like it, according to [this](http://www.revoketheoscar.com/tips.htm).
> [@](#):
>
> What is the procedure for revoking an Oscar?
>
> There is none in the rules – any more than there was a procedure for revoking Milli Vanilli’s Grammy award, when that was done in 1990, or Michael Bellesiles’ Bancroft Prize , when that was done in 2001.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/5 "2003-04-27T02:31:32Z")
That should be Google _isn’t_ cooperating. Maybe it’s my lousy typing.
Haj
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### Author:  [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/6 "2003-04-27T02:38:47Z")
> **[1968 Academy Awards](https://www.infoplease.com/culture-entertainment/awards/film/1968-academy-awards)**
>
> The 1968 Academy Awards were presented April 14, 1969 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.Best PictureFunny Girl, Ray Stark, producer (Columbia)The Lion in Winter, Martin Poll, producer (Avco Embassy)Oliver!, John Woolf, producer...
> [@](#):
>
> (At the April 14, 1968, awards ceremony, _Young Americans_ was announced as the Documentary Feature winner. On May 7, 1969, the film was disqualified because it played in October 1967, therefore ineligible for a 1968 award. _Journey Into Self_, the first runner-up was awarded the Oscar on May 8, 1969.)
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### Author:  [@SRB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRB)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/7 "2003-04-27T02:45:04Z")
Thank you, Desmostylus, hajario, swanky and Max Torque!!! You guys are wonderful!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
swanky, you have remarkable insight!! LOL!!
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/8 "2003-04-27T03:17:59Z")
Unless somebody broke a rule - and you’d think they wouldn’t let that happen AGAIN - it ain’t gonna happen. (I’m taking a _big leap_ and assuming that this is in reference to the people who want to take away Michael Moore’s Oscar because they didn’t like what he said after winning it - which he did, fair and square.) Besides, if they started revoking Oscars left and right, wouldn’t they have to stop giving them to bad movies? 😉
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/9 "2003-04-27T03:18:04Z")
Unless somebody broke a rule - and you’d think they wouldn’t let that happen AGAIN - it ain’t gonna happen. (I’m taking a _big leap_ and assuming that this is in reference to the people who want to take away Michael Moore’s Oscar because they didn’t like what he said after winning it - which he did, fair and square.) Besides, if they started revoking Oscars left and right, wouldn’t they have to stop giving them to bad movies? 😉
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/10 "2003-04-27T03:21:38Z")
ARG. To add a thought, I think the category is “best foreign language film.” American companies are often very involved in producing, distributing, and making these movies. Long as it ain’t in English, it’s eligible - after all, British movies don’t go in this category.
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### Author:  [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/11 "2003-04-27T03:32:02Z")
And there are cases of Oscars being swiped after the awards. Hattie McDaniels donated her “Gone With the Wind” Oscar to Howard University, from which it disappeared years later – a disappearance widely believed to be caused by distaste for her role in that film. My guess is if they ever drain the Anacostia, they’ll find it.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/12 "2003-04-27T04:20:43Z")
Plus Homer stole Haing Ngor’s Oscar (later modified to Don Ameche’s).
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### Author:  [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/13 "2003-04-27T04:31:38Z")
A few awards have been _refused_ by the people they were awarded to. Most famously, when Marlon Brando won his Oscar for **The Godfather** , he sent a Native American named “Sacheen Littlefeather” to reject the Oscar on his behalf, on the grounds that Hollywood was discriminating against Indian actors. (Ironically, Mrs. Littlefeather turned out not to be Native American at all, but a Hispanic actor in Indian dress.)
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/14 "2003-04-27T08:07:21Z")
\>\> Ironically, Mrs. Littlefeather turned out not to be Native American at all, but a Hispanic actor in Indian dress
Define “Hispanic”. I would say Hispanics are descended from natives. Or are natives from south of the border not really natives?
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### Author:  [@SRB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRB)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/15 "2003-04-27T15:25:20Z")
Marley 23, thank you for your answer!! I do appreciate your efforts, and yes, it was in reference to Mr. Moore. The subject came up at another board, and the only real experts I trust …are the people here! Not only are you all excellent researchers, some of you have a fair amount of telepathy, too! LOL
Satisfying Andy Delicious, thank you!! I loved Hattie McDaniels in that movie, and Butterfly McQueen, too! Sorry to hear the lady’s Oscar was ummmmmmmmm misplaced, because she certainly did deserve it, whether it was a desirable role or not.
KGS, thanks for that wonderful story. I remember that happening, but had no idea Mrs. Littlefeather was a phony. How really deliciously ironic!!
sailor, thank you, too. I do believe there may be confusion about Hispanic ethnicity based on where a particular person was raised; after all, most of Texas was once Mexico, so that would make a Hispanic person a native and maybe even a Native American, as there were certain tribes and factions within that culture. Matter of interpretation, perhaps???
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/16 "2003-04-27T15:43:48Z")
Are there people seriously calling for Moore’s Oscar to be revoked, because he has political views opposed the theirs? Are they starting a Hollywood blacklist, too?
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### Author:  [@SRB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRB)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/17 "2003-04-27T15:49:10Z")
It started as a joke, then people got to wondering if an Oscar had ever been revoked, or if was even possible. There’s no blacklist that I know of, but plenty of people who do not choose to support some actors, which is well within their rights.
Thanks for your comment, Retvim!!!
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### Author:  [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/18 "2003-04-27T21:30:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Revtim \*
> \*\*Are there people seriously calling for Moore’s Oscar to be revoked, because he has political views opposed the theirs? Are they starting a Hollywood blacklist, too? \*\*
Some people are calling for Moore’s Oscar to be revoked because there has been a good bit of talk that he staged some scenes in **Bowling for Columbine** which is a definite no-no for a documentary.
No, there is no new Hollywood blacklist starting up.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/19 "2003-04-27T21:34:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Some people are calling for Moore’s Oscar to be revoked because there has been a good bit of talk that he staged some scenes in Bowling for Columbine which is a definite no-no for a documentary.
Yes, but those are people with political motivations looking for an excuse.
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### Author:  [@SRB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SRB)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/20 "2003-04-27T21:40:57Z")
Marley, you could be right; I just don’t assume to know what other people think or what motivates them.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-oscar-ever-been-revoked/171431/21 "2003-04-27T21:42:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by swanky \*
> \*\*It’s only possible to be disqualified if something is misrepresented…such as…an actress turning out to be an actor in drag. \*\*
Surely they should get to keep it if they put up _that_ convincing a performance.
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