She landed a surprise Oscar nomination after a late-in-the-season word-of-mouth campaign.
Upon further review, Andrea Riseborough's surprise Academy Award nomination for Best Actress will stand.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday announced its decision not to rescind Riseborough's nomination for her work in To Leslie. That being said, the Academy did say it discovered campaigning tactics that concerned them.
"Based on concerns that surfaced last week around the To Leslie awards campaign, the Academy began a review into the firm's campaigning tactics," Academy CEO Bill Kramer said in a statement. "The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film’s nomination should be rescinded. However, we did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern. These tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly."
Kramer continued, "The purpose of the Academy’s campaign regulations is to ensure a fair and ethical awards process -- these are core values of the Academy. Given this review, it is apparent that components of the regulations must be clarified to help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning. These changes will be made after this awards cycle and will be shared with our membership. The Academy strives to create an environment where votes are based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible films and achievements."
The announcement comes just four days after the Academy last week launched a review of campaign procedures following her surprise nomination, though the Academy never directly addressed Riseborough or the film, To Lesie.
"It is the Academy’s goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner, and we are committed to ensuring an inclusive awards process," the statement read. "We are conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees, to ensure that no guidelines were violated, and to inform us whether changes to the guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication. We have confidence in the integrity of our nomination and voting procedures, and support genuine grassroots campaigns for outstanding performances."
The review came just days after the 41-year-old actress landed the coveted nomination for her role in To Leslie, playing an alcoholic single mother who seeks redemption after blowing her lottery winnings. When her name was read out loud in the Best Actress category -- joining Cate Blanchett (Tár), Ana de Armas (Blonde), Michelle Williams (The Fablemans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) -- many were shocked, considering that, to that point, she had only been nominated for one other award, an Independent Spirit Award.
What's more, the nomination came as an even bigger shock because of who wasn't nominated -- notably Danielle Deadwyler for Till and Viola Davis for The Woman King. It's purported that Riseborough's late push -- and subsequent Oscar nomination -- was due to a late-in-the-season, star-studded word-of-mouth campaign. From Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Amy Adams to Mia Farrow, Sarah Paulson and Edward Norton, a plethora of celebrities pushed for Riseborough to earn the distinct recognition before Academy voters submitted their nominations on Jan. 17.
The 95th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be handed out live at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on March 12 starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC. In the meantime, stay tuned to ETonline.com for complete Oscars coverage.
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