Cheryl Boone Isaacs President Of The Academy Explains Decision To Rescind 'Alone Yet Not Alone' Nomination

Following the announcement that the Academy had rescinded Alone Yet Not Alone’s nomination for Best Original Song, many accused the Academy of bias against a faith-based film. President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, firmly denies that the decision had anything to do with the content of the film or the song.

This is not about the film. This is about the voting process in one category. That’s all there is. We are adamant about keeping the integrity of our voting process,” Isaacs told The Hollywood Reporter Saturday, Feb. 1.

Composer Bruce Broughton Emailed Academy Members

The Academy also released a statement Saturday, detailing the voting process that determines the nominees for Best Original Song. According to the statement, all songs are intended to remain anonymous at the time of the voting, preventing any favoritism. As previously reported, “Alone Yet Not Alone” composer and former Governor of the Music Branch of the Academy, Bruce Broughton, e-mailed some of his friends who were voting to encourage them to listen to his song for fear that it would get lost amidst nominees that had the benefit of studio publicity. Unfortunately, by doing so he revealed his identity as composer of the song, something the Academy has since decided is an act “that undermines the integrity of the Oscars voting process.”

“It has been a long-standing policy and practice of the Academy – as well as a requirement of Rule 5.3 of the 86th Academy Award Rules – to omit composer and lyricist credits from the DVD of eligible songs that are sent to members of the Music Branch,” reads the statement.

Instead of listing the lyricist and composer, songs presented to the voters are only identified by their titles and the film titles. According to the official statement, Broughton e-mailed 70 of the 240 voting members and specifically identified track number 57 as one that he had worked on and requested that they listen to it.

“Our purpose is to keep a level playing field and to keep it anonymous, so when one person – in this case, Mr. Broughton – sends out an e-mail driving the voting members to a specific song that’s his, it does break the rules. And, certainly, a member of the executive committee of the music branch should know this,” Isaacs said.

Broughton defended himself, saying that he only promoted his song for fear that it would be overshadowed by big budget films that had the money to campaign for the Oscar.

“What happens is that the music branch of the Academy puts all the songs on a disc and I was concerned that this song would be really easy to overlook. So, yeah, I wrote some people and said, ‘Could you just take a look.’ That was literally the extent of the campaigning. I received in the mail songs from other films that were pressed and recorded CDs. We didn’t do anything like that,” Broughton told Entertainment Weekly.

When questioned on how Broughton’s actions differed from those films that submitted expensive ads and hosted special screenings, Isaacs explained that the other films did not specifically identify a song on the supposedly anonymous DVD as their own. Furthermore, they did not specifically target the voters in the category of Best Original Song.

“[In that scenario] the people in the audiences are comprised of a whole number and range of people; the audience is full of many different folks. This was a direct communiqué to voting members who are given an official list that specifically kept the names of the composers and the lyricists off to avoid undue influence. This was a very targeted, specific approach. That’s very different. And no one else, other than people in the music branch, would have this reminder list with the number, the eligible song and the title,” Isaacs explained.

Isaacs also took the time to defend the Academy for not replacing “Alone Yet Not Alone” with a new nominee, saying that it goes against an Academy rule that states that no new nominee should take the place of another deemed ineligible.

Remaining Nominees For Best Original Song

“The Moon Song” – Her

“Let It Go” – Frozen

“Happy – Despicable Me 2

“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

The 86th Oscars, hosted for the second time by Ellen DeGeneres, will air Sunday, March 2, 2014 live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.

More on Alone Yet Not Alone:

The Academy Revokes Best Original Song Nomination For "Alone Yet Not Alone"

Private Investigator Hired To Look Into Oscar Eligibility Of Best Original Song Nominee 'Alone Yet Not Alone'

2014 Oscar Nominations Announced: 'Gravity' And 'American Hustle' Lead

uInterview

Recent Posts

TIFF Oscar Buzz: ‘The Martian,’ ‘Room’ And ‘The Danish Girl’ Lead In Oscar Race

The Martian, Room and The Danish Girl emerge Oscar front-runners as the Toronto International Film Festival…

9 years ago

Dan Rather Confirms Authenticity Of ‘Truth’ At TIFF, Stands By 2004 Report About George W. Bush

Truth, the drama based on Dan Rather’s departure from CBS, premiered to a standing ovation…

9 years ago

‘Equals’ Starring Kristen Stewart And Nicholas Hoult Inspires Heated Bidding War At TIFF

Equals, the sci-fi romance starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, is closing in on a…

9 years ago

Jessica Chastain Gushes Over Playing An Astronaut In ‘The Martian’ At TIFF Press Conference

Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain likened shooting The Martian to being a little kid playing…

9 years ago

Jake Gyllenhaal Kicks Off TIFF 2015 With ‘Demolition’

Jake Gyllenhaal opened the Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday with the premiere of Demolition.…

9 years ago

Natalie Portman Attends The TIFF Premiere Of Her Directorial Debut ‘A Tale Of Love And Darkness’

Natalie Portman appeared in Toronto on Thursday for the North American premiere of her directorial…

9 years ago