Angela Basset suffered a heartbreaking loss at the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony. Despite being a favourite to win Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, her loss to Jamie Lee Curtis surprised many.
While the other nominees applauded Jamie, Angela, 64, looked deflated and upset. Surprisingly, people on social media began to voice their displeasure, accusing the seasoned actress of not showing enough joy in Curtis’ win.
One person tweeted: “Regardless of who you think should’ve won, it was poor on Angela Bassett’s part to just sit there miserably when Jamie won and not be happy for her.”
“Angela Bassett is one of my favorite actors. However, I did not like her reaction to not winning. It made her look unprofessional and sour. I was disappointed by her not winning, but more disappointed by her reaction,” another person wrote.
Many fans defended Angela.
Angela Bassett should’ve won #Oscars I’m glad she didn’t fake a reaction to entertain idiots telling us how a Black woman should handle Hollywood once again throwing awards at White women. I like Jamie Lee Curtis but she didn’t outperform Angela Basset or Stephanie Hsu #Oscar2023 https://t.co/yeDtYNDmbA
— Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (@SholaMos1) March 13, 2023
Angela Bassett’s reaction was perfect. ZN Hurston wrote “if you’re silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” Angela was snubbed. Again. Black women are regularly overworked, underpaid, devalued, disrespected & Ignored. Tonight that pain was palpable. Good.
— Tiffany Jeffers (@LawProfTJ) March 13, 2023
Bassett is a human being just like the rest of us, and sometimes disappointment is hard to shake off in the moment. And there is no need to police her emotions. Even in the rarefied atmosphere of Hollywood, it’s understandable and expected for high-level actors to feel disappointment when they don’t win. Moreover, there is no way to tell whether Basset’s lack of enthusiastic clapping was indicative of displeasure or simply shock.
What is certain is that Basset has been a major player in Hollywood.
She began her career in theatre before moving into film and television. Her first major role was in the 1993 film What’s Love Got to Do with It. Since then, she has appeared in a variety of films, including Malcolm X, Waiting to Exhale, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and Marvel’s Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
As well as film work, Bassett has had a successful career in television. She was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards for her performances in the miniseries The Rosa Parks Story and the Emmy-winning FX series American Horror Story.
She won the Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a supporting role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earlier this year. As part of her acceptance speech, she paid a heartwarming and tear-inducing tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who played the lead role in the first Black Panther movie.
Though victory in 2023 wasn’t in the cards for Basset, her stature among her peers is unquestioned, and her continued success as an actress should be celebrated.
At least no one got slapped this year.
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