Tony Hawk Hits Back at Oscar Fans With His Movie Credentials

By Spencer Perry

The latest slate of presenters for this year's Academy Awards were announced this week by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and they included some names we might expect and some eyebrow raisers. Among those confirmed to be presenting an award during the ceremony were Jennifer Garner and former Oscar nominee Bill Murray, but also set to hand out an award are musician/personality DJ Khaled, three-time Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder Shaun White, and also legendary professional skateboarder Tony Hawk. Many fans of the Oscars saw this as an attempt to garner ratings, appropriate due to their decline, balking at the idea of the likes of DJ Halen and Tony Hawk handing out a golden statue.

In response to the response however, Tony Hawk took to social media to present his bonafides and roll out his filmography, writing: "If being in every Jackass movie, xXx, Police Academy 4 and Sharknado 5 doesn't qualify me to present at the Oscars, then your taste in movies needs readjusting." Fans were quick to respond to Hawk with even more examples of his experience in front of the camera and on the big screen, noting films like Gleaming the Cube, Lords of Dogtown, Parental Guidance, and The New Guy. 

One could also argue that the years and multitudes of skateboarding videos starring Hawk also extend into his legacy as a film icon. Though produced largely for the VHS market in-homes, these movies scratched that same itch for fans and viewers which the Jackass feature films also manage. These products are inherently cinematic concepts by their nature as they depict an avant-garde group of individuals eager to photograph and release feats of humanity that haven't been seen before.

Hawk is one of many presenters set to appear at this year's Academy Awards which also includes Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves), Zoë Kravitz (The Batman), Lady Gaga (A Star is Born), Rosie Perez (Birds of Prey), Chris Rock, Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari), Ruth E. Carter (Oscar winning production designer for Black Panther), Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), Lily James (Baby Driver), John Leguizamo (Encanto), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Mila Kunis (Black Swan), Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave), Naomi Scott (Aladdin), Wesley Snipes (Blade), John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), among others.

The Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.    

(Cover Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb)  

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