Former US President Donald Trump issued an unexpected statement on Tuesday that highlighted his disappointment in the award show’s low ratings, predicting viewership would take an even bigger plunge should the framework of the event stay the same.
In a statement issued by Trump’s post-presidency office, the former commander-in-chief complained that the show lost its attraction to viewers because organizers have implemented a “ridiculous formula” that will only cause viewership to plummet even further.
“What used to be called The Academy Awards, and now is called the ‘Oscars’ - a far less important and elegant name - had the lowest Television Ratings in recorded history, even much lower than last year, which set another record low,” Trump said. “If they keep with the current ridiculous formula, it will only get worse - if that’s possible.”
Although the annual award show has long been referred to as the Oscars, in line with the name given to the golden statuette handed to winners, the ceremony officially rebranded itself with the less formal title in 2013. At the time, officials with the event explained that the move was meant to bring the Academy Awards into the present.
Trump stated that organizers should take a trip down memory lane to pinpoint “the formula they used” some 15 years ago, and also needed to “bring back a great host” in order to turn the show’s ratings around.
The show has not enlisted an official host since 2019, when comedian-turned-actor Kevin Hart stepped down from the gig in light of backlash over homophobic remarks that resurfaced after being chosen for the post.
“Contagion” director Steven Soderbergh, who also served as a producer for the 2021 awards, recently explained that organizers were moving away from using a host yet again because of a desired change in the ceremony’s “overarching structure.”
The former president continued on blasting the organizers in his statement, urging the team to not “be so politically correct and boring, and do it right,” before turning to his politics-based argument.
“These television people spend all their time thinking about how to promote the Democrat Party, which is destroying our Country, and cancel Conservatives and Republicans. That formula certainly hasn’t worked very well for The Academy!”
The Tuesday fallout is far from the first time that Trump has weighed in on the show, especially when it comes to shining a light on the Oscars’ ratings. In 2018 and in 2019, Trump took the opportunity to call out the show for its declining audience reach.
