Goldie Hawn explains why she thinks the Oscars are no longer ‘elegant’: Too ‘politicised’

Hollywood icon Goldie Hawn thinks the Oscars have lost their touch.

The actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1970 for her breakout role in Cactus Flower. She was nominated again in the Best Actress category for Private Benjamin in 1981.

“It used to be elegant,” Hawn told Variety of the Oscars in a new cover story.

“I’m not old-fashioned, but sometimes jokes are off-colour. And I’m missing reverence. Things have become politicized. I want to see people in awe. I want to see people believing again. I want to see people laughing more in a way that isn’t just at someone else’s expense.”

The actor added that Will Smith’s infamous slap at last year’s ceremony was “indicative of our culture right now”.

“I mean, you could look at it and say, ‘What the hell just happened?’ Somebody lost control. They lost their self-regulation. Their bigger brain wasn’t thinking, and they did something that was horrendous and also showed no remorse.

“That, to me, is a microcosm oftentimes of our world. [Oscars host] Chris [Rock] was brilliant – totally held on to and controlled his emotions, was able to stand with dignity. That’s an example of what we would like our world to look like. But, unfortunately, it isn’t right now.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Hawn expressed her remorse for failing to pick up her Best Supporting Actress trophy in 1970.

She said she watched the moment she was announced as winner for the first time earlier this year after being prompted to do so by Jimmy Kimmel, who is hosting the 2023 ceremony on Sunday (12 March).

“I got emotional when I finally saw it,” she said.

Find the full list of 2023 Oscar nominations here.