Entertainment

Why Russia is Calling off the Oscars

by Emma Goddard

With the continuous tension occurring right now between Russia and Ukraine, Russia’s Channel One, one if its major broadcasters, has announced that it will no longer be airing tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony which is taking place tonight. Instead, Channel One will be ditching the award show to carry on with their coverage of news developments between the two countries.

Due to the frequent breaking news that has been happening overseas, Channel One feels that with the Oscars being a five-hour long broadcast, it would be unsuitable to air. Now, tonight’s showing will air late night on Monday, while Channel One follows news of “Russian troops being sent to the nearby crisis zones,” according to Deadline.

In a statement made on Channel One’s website, “Due to a large number of news reports on the situation around the autonomous republic of Crimea and Ukraine and due to the viewers’ increased interest in news, Channel One considers the live broadcasting of the Oscar ceremony for five hours to be inappropriate, especially in the early morning hours [Moscow time], when the maximum amount of news broadcasting is done.”

So far, feedback over Channel One’s decision has been abundant, with many people commenting on the matter. However, this doesn’t really seem shocking considering it’s a completely justifiable move with everything that is going on with Russia and Ukraine. After the announcement was made on Channel One’s Facebook page, several people discussed their feelings on the matter via Facebook and through the comment sections of various websites, with some ranging from somewhat disappointed to extremely happy about the channel’s decision.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

From Facebook: