Viewers left 'hurt' by Angela Bassett's reaction to missing out on Oscar

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By Phoebe Egoroff

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Sadly, Angela Bassett didn't do "the thing" at this year's 95th annual Academy Awards.

The 64-year-old was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 2022's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Among the list of fellow nominees was Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All At Once, Hong Chau for The Whale, Kerry Condon for The Banshees of Inisherin, and Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Curtis, also 64, ended up taking home the award, which was her first ever Oscar.

The internet leaped to social media to voice their disappointment at the win, as well as comment on Bassett's reaction - as she didn't look too happy after losing.

As her following nominees could be seen clapping and smiling (with Jamie Lee Curtis almost falling off her chair), Bassett could be seen sitting quietly and showing little emotion.

"Angela Bassett's reaction hurts me," one person wrote.

Another added: "Our Aunty, Angela Bassett. Dignified and heartbroken. Hurt my heart."

"Angela Bassett's reaction to Jamie Lee Curtis' name being called…you can tell how much that Oscar would have meant to her. she is, was, and always will be incredible. I better see her on that stage SOON," someone else added.

A further user chimed in: "It took Angela Bassett 30 years as a Black woman in Hollywood to earn her second #Oscar nomination in her career. Yale grad deserved it for portraying Tina Turner. She doesn't have another 30 to wait. Why have Ariana DeBose up there to announce she lost at the #Oscars? SMH."

Though, not everyone felt her reaction was necessary. As one person pointed out: "Angela Bassett is an amazing actress, but the sore loser vibe…  It would be great to see women supporting each other, even in the face of disappointment (esp. during women's history month)."

Someone else mirrored this sentment, adding: "I like her, but wasn't robbed, she got robbed for 'what's love got to do with it' [that] movie Jamie Lee was in way way better, acting wise, and its hard to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie!"

Someone else tweeted that her loss may have been down to the fact that the Academy apparently has "beef" with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, writing: "Reminder: the Academy has beef with Marvel. Angela Bassett was the first MCU actor to get nominated for an Oscar. EVER. Think about how crazy that is considering the cinematic success of Marvel and the iconic performances we have been given through those films."

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about her role in Wakanda Forever, Bassett was asked how she dealt with grief while acting following the death of Chadwick Boseman - who appeared with her in the first Wakanda movie. "We go through hard things in life, but you're an artist."

She continued: "And if you have an opportunity to use it, you make that pain good for something, for some illumination, for audiences who sit in the dark and watch it later. It'll reflect what they're going through or what they will go through at some point."

Was she robbed of the Oscar, or do you think Curtis was the standout performance of the category? Let us know in the comments!

Featured image credit: Paul Smith / Alamy