Why Richard Gere Was Banned From The Oscars For 20 Whole Years

In what may come as a surprise to many movie fans, Richard Gere was once banned from the Oscars. Gere is an award-winning actor whose credits include some of the greatest romantic comedies and successful romantic dramas of all time, with Beautiful woman, An officer and a gentlemanAnd Runaway bride. With four Golden Globe nominations and one win for Best Actor in ChicagoAnd two SAG nominations with one win, again for ChicagoIt is a miracle Gere was never nominated for an Oscar.

There are many talented actors who have never had the honor of being nominated. In Richard Gere’s case, however, part of his unhappiness stems from the fact that he was banned from the ceremony for 20 years. There have been many funny and dark moments at the Oscars over the years. Some of these have led to actors being banned from the event. People like Carmine Caridi, Will Smith, Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein were all banned For progressive more about reasons, but Gere’s ban was under unique circumstances.

In the 1993 Oscars, the 65th Academy Awards, and only a few years later Beautiful womanRichard Gere was asked to present the award for Best Art Direction, which ended up going to Luciana Arrighi and Ian Whittaker for Howard’s end. during his speech, Gere went off script and began to condemn the Chinese government for its treatment of the Tibetans and the Chinese people. (via Hello! Journal).

Gere, a long-time and vocal adherent to Tibetan Buddhism, was and has since been outspoken against China. After noting in his presentation that over a billion people were watching the 1993 Oscars ceremony, Gere made comments about the “Terrible human rights situation there is in China.”

The actor explained that he wanted to send the moment “Love and truth and a kind of sanity to Deng Xiaoping,” who was the leader of the People’s Republic of China until his death in 1997, while Ask him to remove troops from Tibet and allow them to live independently again. That part of Gere’s speech lasted only about one minute, but was enough for the Oscars to ban him from the ceremony until well into the 21st century.

How long did Richard Gere’s Oscar ban last?

Richard Gere has a long ban from the ceremony

This speech ended Gere was banned from the Oscar ceremony for 20 years and also earned him a lifetime ban from China. However, he was allowed to attend the 2003 ceremony when ChicagoIn which Gere played silver-tongued lawyer Billy Flynn, he was nominated for and won Best Picture. He also returned to the Academy Awards in 2013, the 85th Oscars, to introduce the performance of Best Song nominee “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” and present Best Original Score and Best Original Song along with his Chicago Castmates Queen Latifah, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ger winked and told Huffington Post,

– Apparently, I have been rehabilitated, it seems that you stay long enough, they forget that they banned you.

Richard Gere’s Oscar ban was technically lifted in 2013But the actor has not made any appearances at the ceremony in the years since. However, this is not too surprising, as Gere has not been in too many movies since then. With the Academy Awards’ trend of reuniting actors from classic movies for presentations, such as Beetlejuices Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara or Twins‘ Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito at the 2024 Oscars, it is still possible that a future Oscar ceremony could see Gere return alongside one of his former co-stars like Julia Roberts to present an award.

What other actors have been banned from the Oscars?

Richard Gere is among only a few people who have been banned for various reasons

Being banned from the Oscars is rare, and it has only happened a few times since Richard Gere was banned in 1993. Apart from Richard Gere, the other actors who were Band of the Oscars include The Godfather Part IIs carmine caridi, The Cosby ShowS. Bill Cosby, and King RichardWill Smith. Actors are not the only Hollywood figures who have been banned from the ceremony, however, as producer Harvey Weinstein, director Roman Polanski and cinematographer Adam Kimmel have also been prohibited from attending the Oscars in recent years.

The length of the ban and the reasons for being barred from the Oscars vary by person and reason. Gere’s ban lasted 20 years for his off-script speech, however Carmine Caridi has been permanently banned after illegally distributing VHS “screeners” of movies to be his friend.

Additionally, the Academy granted lifetime bans to Harvey Weinstein in 2017, Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski in 2018, and Adam Kimmel in 2021 after each received sexual assault or misconduct charges, convictions or allegations. The latest person to be banned from the Oscars is Will Smith, who received a 10-year ban after dragging presenter Chris Rock on stage at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Gere stepped out of the spotlight, but he returned to Hollywood

Richard Gere appeared in a 2023 film and has three more on the way

Richard Gere had difficulty finding work in major Hollywood productions after 1993A fact he claimed was because of Hollywood’s financial relationship with China, but he still acted in smaller independent films. However, in 2017, still starring in the dinner And Three ChristiansGear stayed out of the spotlight for six years. Only in 2023 did he finally appear again in a movie, and plays in Howard Maybe I doA romantic comedy where he costars in an ensemble alongside Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey and William H. Macy.

Despite the stellar cast, the film was a flop, earning a paltry 32% on Rotten tomatoesBut it was a sign that Ger is back. In 2024, the actor starred in two movies: LongingA drama also with Diane Kruger, and Paul Schrader’s Oh, CanadaA drama that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in which Gere plays the older version of Jacob Allardy’s character, Leonard Fife. Jacob Alordi is currently a major star and with Gear attached to a film with him, there is hope that the veteran’s star will rise once again.

Gere also has two upcoming projects listed on his IMDb page, and they are also watching Chicago Star working alongside boozy talent. He is currently filming The agencya Paramount + espionage thriller starring Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright, and The making ofA movie in pre-production also set to star Blake Lively, Diane Keaton and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

How fans feel about Oscar Banes

Fans were split on Will Smith but supported bans to others

When it comes to Oscar bans, many fans either have no idea they happened or they often aren’t overly concerned about them. The most recent example was Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. While the discourse online was split, with some saying he should have been banned and other fans defending him for standing up for his wife, most people felt the ban was fair. In A Reddit Poll, 389 people voted, and 219 felt that the 10-year ban is fair and only 65 felt it was too harsh. 105 people felt there should have been more:

“Sure. The slap didn’t just hurt Chris Rock, it hurt the filmmakers Rock was presenting the award for, and their speech, which should have been their proudest moment, was made awkward by Smith’s action.” – Berutheil999

When it comes to the ban for actions outside the Oscars, most fans seem to be in favor. If Romish Polanski re-enters America, he will be arrested. Redditor mstrss9 pointed out how long it took to finally ban Roman Polanski after his arrest, saying: “Roman Polanski is a convicted child rapist because he is an “artist” If I remember correctly, it wasn’t until they were ready to ban Bill Cosby that they finally decided to say something about Polanski.“