Al Pacino Says Oscars Best Picture Presentation Was “a Choice by the Producers”

Sunday’s 96th Academy Awards ended quite abruptly, with Best Picture presenter Al Pacino revealing Oppenheimer as the winner of the top award without reading off all nominees. During a typical year at the awards gala, it’s standard to read all films or actors in any given category before cracking the gold envelope and announcing a winner. According to a new statement from Pacino and his camp, it wasn’t a flub on Pacino’s part—not naming the Best Picture nominees was a choice made by the producers behind the telecast.

“There seems to be some controversy about my not mentioning every film by name last night before announcing the best picture award,” Pacino said in a statement on Monday. “I just want to be clear it was not my intention to omit them, rather a choice by the producers not to have them said again since they were highlighted individually throughout the ceremony. I was honored to be a part of the evening and chose to follow the way they wished for this award to be presented.”

He added, “I realize being nominated is a huge milestone in one’s life and to not be fully recognized is offensive and hurtful. I say this as someone who profoundly relates with filmmakers, actors and producers so I deeply empathize with those who have been slighted by this oversight and it’s why I felt it necessary to make this statement. “

Pacino went megaviral for the way he announced Oppenheimer’s big win. “Best Picture, I have to go to the envelope for that,” Pacino said while opening the golden envelope in question. “And I will. Here it comes, and my eyes see Oppenheimer.”

Immediately after the show, Oscars producer Molly McNearney addressed the moment, saying they decided to skip the nominee nods because every picture had already had a clip run at some point throughout the show.

“By the time you get to the end of the show, you’ve seen all 10 best picture clip packages,” McNearney told Variety in a post-show interview. “People just want to hear who wins, and they’re pretty ready for the show to be over. At least that’s what we anticipated. So, we did not give him a clip package. We did not give him nominations to read. I apologize if our decision to not have to read through all those nominations put him in a tough spot.”