"I want to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy for this Oscar, in that order." With these words began Robert Downey Jr.'s speech when collecting his precious Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Admiral Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, the winning film of the night.
A long-awaited moment for all those present, who received the American actor with a standing ovation; who perhaps did not want to realize that just a few seconds before they had witnessed an unfortunate gesture by the recent winner towards Ke Huy Quan, winner of the award the previous year for Everything Everywhere All at Once and who presented the award.
The actor went on stage amid the applause of his colleagues, but when he reached Quan, he simply "snatched" the award from him, without saying anything, making a gesture of complicity or mere eye contact.
His attitude has been harshly criticized on social networks, since the recently awarded actor did have time to shake hands with the co-presenter, director Tim Robbins; and make a knowing gesture with actor Sam Rockwell, also on stage.
What's more, Quan even tries to get his attention on a second occasion to try to give him the envelope with the card that bears his name, without success. After these two interactions, Robert Downey Jr. simply turns around to let himself be loved by his audience, which he continues to applaud.
Many users on networks warned of the bad publicity that this type of gesture could bring to the actor, who does not exactly enjoy a good image in recent times in certain sectors given his support for certain characters that some consider "problematic"; and they urged that she rectify it as soon as possible to avoid another controversy like the one experienced by Taylor Swift and her "snub" to Céline Dion at the Grammy Awards.
Said and done: at the end of the gala, in the photos with the press, both embraced each other and even posed for a selfie.
Robert Downey Jr, who was nominated alongside Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things), dedicated his speech to the cast and crew of the movie; claiming that they had made him a "better man."
"This is my secret: I needed this job more than the project needed me. Chris Nolan knew this and made sure to surround me with one of the best casts ever: Emily, Cillian, Matt Damon... "I am a better man thanks to you."
She then thanked her publicist, agent and stylist, whom she joked that she had to do it "in case no one else does it" before referencing her past struggles. "I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy. In that order. I would like to thank my veterinarian, that is, my wife, Susan Downey. She found me like a grumpy rescue pet and loved me back to life, That's why I'm here, thank you."
Furthermore, he did not hesitate to thank his lawyer, who has gotten him out of so many complicated situations to date: "My entertainment lawyer, Tom Hanson, for 40 years, half of which he spent trying to secure me and get me out of [ problems.] Thank you, brother."
