The Razzies Rescind Nomination of 12-Year-Old Actor After Backlash
In a move that is starting to become a tradition, The Razzies are retracting a nomination shortly after announcing their yearly nominations in response to widespread backlash for the decision to nominate child actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong for "Worst Actress." As if the concept of the organization highlighting the worst films and worst performances of the year wasn't already considered mean-spirited enough, with the actor only being 11 years old while filming Firestarter, The Razzies was targeted for the insult towards the performer. Just last year, The Razzies crafted the all-new category "Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 Movie," though after the actor revealed his aphasia diagnosis, the organization axed the category entirely, as well as retroactively rescinding Shelley Duvall's nomination for her performance in The Shining due to the psychological distress she was put under by director Stanley Kubrick.
"Sometimes, you do things without thinking, then you are called out for it. Then you get it. It's why the Razzies were created in the first place," The Razzies founder John Wilson shared in a statement, per Variety. "The recent valid criticism of the choice of 11-year-old Armstrong as a nominee for one of our awards brought our attention to how insensitive we've been in this instance. As a result, we have removed Armstrong's name from the Final Ballot that our members will cast next month. We also believe a public apology is owed Ms. Armstrong, and wish to say we regret any hurt she experienced as a result of our choices."
The first annual Golden Raspberry Awards were held in 1981 and the ceremony was meant to serve as a counterbalance to the Academy Awards. Despite initially being meant to poke fun at the pomp and prestige of the Oscars, the reaction to the event has shifted in recent years, as social media platforms have offered audiences more than enough toxicity and negativity that an entire event focusing on insulting films and performers, even in jest, feels too directly cruel.
Highlighting how the culture has changed is that Armstrong isn't the first child nominated, with 11-year-old Jake Lloyd and 14-year-old Macaulay Culkin having also been previously nominated. The organization has updated its policies and will no longer be nominating anyone under the age of 18.
"Having learned from this lesson, we would also like to announce that, from this point forward, we are adopting a Voting Guideline precluding any performer or filmmaker under 18 years of age from being considered for our awards," the statement continued. "We have never intended to bury anyone's career. It is why our Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, very much us included. Since our motto is 'Own Your Bad,' we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it."
Armstrong has yet to publicly respond to the nomination.
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