Chadwick Boseman NFT artwork for Oscar nominees backfires after best-actor shocker
Chadwick #Chadwick
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A sweet Oscar swag-bag tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, the favorite for the best actor award, turned sour for many viewers after Anthony Hopkins instead received the statuette for his work in “The Father.”
Boseman, who died last August at age 43 and garnered a posthumous nomination for his work in Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was strongly favored to win coming into Sunday’s ceremony. He had already won a Golden Globe, Critics Choice award and Screen Actors Guild award for the role and many pundits predicted a deserved victory.
The tea leaves seemed easy to read, particularly after producers shifted the best actor win to the last award of the night.
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Meanwhile, prior to Sunday’s Oscars it was announced that Academy Award nominees would receive a one-of-a-kind digital artwork created by artist Andre Oshea, redeemable by an NFT – a non-fungible token.
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When Hopkins’ name was announced, many on social media expressed shock and outrage at what they considered to be manipulation by the Oscars organizers. In reality, it might be poor planning and proof that organizers don’t know who’s going to win before the envelope is opened.
“Putting a Chadwick Boseman NFT in the gift bag, as well as restructuring the traditional order of the ceremony so to end on Best Actor, seemingly to have a moment for Chadwick, all reeks of the Academy trying to capitalise on a tragedy in order to get ratings,” @harrietnking tweeted.
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Another viewer, @DylanTucson, expressed overall frustration with Boseman not receiving an Oscar. “Creating a Chadwick Boseman NFT and not even giving him a posthumous Oscar is the best example of everything wrong today.”
@RendyJones cited the trifecta of Boseman being featured last in the In Memoriam segment, the positioning of the best actor award in the final slot and the NFT in concluding: “This all feels wrong. #Oscars”
The NFT itself will then be auctioned off by Rarible through Tuesday, with proceeds donated to The Colon Cancer Foundation, the same form of cancer Boseman battled.
“This rare special edition NFT is the very first offered as a tribute to the prolific actor, a unique piece of art which is limited to just 1 edition and will never be minted again,” said Isaac Rudansky, founder of AdVenture Media, according to a press release.
Rudansky said the NFT “commemorates Chadwick’s incredible legacy while supporting the nationwide initiative to bring 10,000 colorectal screenings to underserved communities in 2021 through CCF.”
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The artist’s NFT of the late actor, according to a press release, is a “celebration of Black creativity in cinema and art, and a salute to Boseman’s undeniable cross-generational influence as the first superhero of African descent Black Panther.”
Contributing: Bill Keveney
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chadwick Boseman NFT artwork for Oscar nominees backfires after best-actor shocker