The usually disgusting group that nominates the “worst” movies and performances of the year, the Razzies used to be a fun and witty bunch, but in recent years they’ve become mean-spirited and relentlessly mean-spirited.
That was – surprise! — the case again this year, when the group nominated 12-year-old actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who starred in last year’s remake of “Firestarter,” for Worst Actress. The outrage was, as you can imagine, swift. And on Wednesday, the Razzies issued a predictably weak response apologizing. How noble!
You can read the statement below, which is attributed to John Wilson of the Razzies, someone we can only assume has created as much art, provided as much work, and generated as much happiness as all the artists and filmmakers who routinely, cruelly award them. pin in (We cleaned up some of the weird spacing and spelling errors as a courtesy.)
“Sometimes, you do things without thinking, then they call you for it. So you get it. This is why the Razzies were created in the first place,” Wilson wrote.
He continued: “The recent valid criticism of the choice of 11-year-old Armstrong as a nominee for one of our awards brought to our attention how insensitive we have been in this case. As a result, we are removing Armstrong’s name from the final ballot our members will cast next month. We also believe that Ms. Armstrong is owed a public apology and wish to say that we are sorry for any harm she experienced as a result of our elections.
Having learned from this lesson, we would also like to announce that, from now on, we are adopting a Voting Guideline that prevents any artist or filmmaker under the age of 18 from being considered for our awards.
We have never intended to bury anyone’s career. That is why our Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, including us.
Since our motto is ‘Own Your Bad’, we realize we need to live up to it ourselves, too.”
Why anyone pays attention to the Razzies is a real mystery, but the fact that they put out stuff like this almost every year should really solidify their obsolescence. Child actors who have been nominated in the past include Gary Coleman, who was nominated just before his 13th birthday, and Macaulay Culkin, who was nominated for three movies, including “Richie Rich” in 1994 at age 13.
Last year, the awards came under fire for giving Bruce Willis its own “worst” category and ultimately rescinded the award after it was revealed the “Pulp Fiction” star suffers from aphasia.
In 2022, they also rescinded Shelley Duvall’s 1980 Worst Actress award for “The Shining.”
Sharon Knolle contributed to this article.