Michelle Yeoh divides fans after sharing article saying that Cate Blanchett ‘already has two Oscars’

Michelle Yeoh shared, and then swiftly deleted, snippets from an article on Instagram, in which it was noted that her Academy Awards competitor Cate Blanchett “already has two Oscars”.

Yeoh has drawn criticism for the post, originally shared on 7 March, because she is competing with Blanchett for the Best Actress prize at the Academy Awards later this month.

The article that Yeoh shared was Vogue’s 6 March piece, titled “It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?”

Yeoh, who is nominated at the 2023 Academy Awards for her role as Evelyn Wang in Everything Everywhere All At Once, shared a number of excerpts from the article on Instagram, in a post seen by The Independent.

In her caption, Yeoh wrote: “This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me... We want to be seen. We want to be heard.”

The post later disappeared after it began circulating on Twitter.

The Crazy Rich Asians star was questioned for sharing one paragraph in particular, which singled out Tár actor Blanchett. It said: “Detractors would say that Blanchett’s is the stronger performance – the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár – but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars (for best supporting actress for The Aviator in 2005, and best actress for Blue Jasmine in 2014).

“A third would perhaps confirm her status as an industry titan but, considering her expansive and unparalleled body of work, are we still in need of yet more confirmation? Meanwhile, for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts, after a decade of being criminally underused in Hollywood.”

The Independent has contacted Yeoh’s representatives for comment.

“Which overeager 2016-era I’m With Her millennial on Michelle Yeoh’s social media management team got that Instagram post approved? Please explain yourself,” journalist Iva Dixit tweeted.

Some users pointed out that Tuesday 7 March was the last day of Oscars voting.

Others defended Yeoh for sharing the article, which was more widely about the lack of representation at the Oscars.

“Once again. Michelle Yeoh’s Instagram post was not a personal attack against Cate Blanchett, and neither was the original article she posted,” one fan said.

“It was an indictment of a system that regularly overlooks, and sometimes even works against, actors and actresses of colour. That is all.”

Another tweeted: “Michelle Yeoh screencapped eight slides worth of paragraphs from that article she posted on Instagram! Do not go messing with her reputation during the last week of this thing by acting like she's calling out Blanchett!”

This year’s Oscars ceremony takes place on Sunday 12 March.

Aside from Blanchett, Yeoh is up against Ana de Armas for Blonde, Andrea Riseborough for To Leslie and Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans. Find a list of all the nominations here.