Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Oscar statue.Photo: VLADIMIR SIMICEK/AFP via Getty; Getty
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reportedlyturned down an appearancefrom Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyyat theOscarsfor the second year in a row.
According toVariety, Zelenskyy, 45, hoped to appear virtually during Sunday’s broadcast of the awards ceremony on ABC amid the ongoingwar in Ukraine.
The appearance would have followed several of its kind during showslike the 2022 Grammy Awardslast April and the 2023 Golden Globes earlier this year, during which the actor-turned-politician offered messages of peace.
Reps for the Academy declined to comment toVariety, and did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Adri Salido/Anadolu Agency via Getty
“The [Golden Globe Awards were] borne at a special time,” Zelenskyy began. “Thesecond World Warwasn’t over yet, but the tide was turned [and] all knew who would win. There were still battles and tears ahead. It was then when the Golden Globe Awards appeared to honor the best performers of 1943.”
“It is now 2023; the war in Ukraine is not over yet, but the tide is turning,” he continued. “And it is already clear who will win.”
And while “there are still battles and tears ahead,” Zelenskyy added, “I can definitely tell you who were the best in the previous year: It was you, the free people of the free world.”
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“Those who united around thesupport of the free Ukrainian peoplein our common struggle for freedom, democracy,” he said. “For the right to live, to love, to give birth, no matter who you are, no matter where you are from, no matter who you are with. The struggle for the right of the new generations to know about the war only from movies.”
“The first World War claimed millions of lives; the second World War claimed tens of millions of them. There will be no third world war; it is not a trilogy,” continued Zelenskyy, who was previously namedTimemagazine’s2022 Person of the Year. “Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land.”
He concluded, “We will make it together with a whole, free world, and I hope that all of you will be with us on the victorious day — the day of our victory. Slava Ukraini.”
The Oscarsair live on ABC Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
source: people.com
