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Photo Of 2025 Oscars Nominees Sparks Mass Outrage: “I’ve Seen Icebergs With More Diversity”
Photo Of 2025 Oscars Nominees Sparks Mass Outrage: “I’ve Seen Icebergs With More Diversity”
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Photo Of 2025 Oscars Nominees Sparks Mass Outrage: “I’ve Seen Icebergs With More Diversity”

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The 2025 Oscars nominees’ class photo is being criticized for the lack of diversity among the contenders.

The honored performers posed together at the Academy Museum’s 952-seat David Geffen Theater, where many of their films were projected, on Tuesday night (February 25) following a dinner at the museum.

In the front row sat Wicked actresses Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, as well as Zoe Saldaña, who recently won SAG and Golden Globe awards for her work in Emilia Pérez.

Highlights
  • The 2025 Oscars nominees photo sparked outrage due to its lack of diversity.
  • Cynthia Erivo is one of the few Black nominees across the four acting categories, along with Zoe Saldaña and Colman Domingo.
  • People also noted the low number of female artists compared to male artists in the photo.

Demi Moore, Timothée Chalamet, Mikey Madison, and Sebastian Stan were also in the star-studded photo.

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    Oscar nominees 2025 event, golden stage design, large audience gathered in a grand theater setting.

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    Image credits: oscars

    Observers criticized that the artists gathered at the theater were mostly white, with Black, Latino, or Asian talents being underrepresented.

    “The most diversity in this photo is the hair color of the girl in the front row,” one Redditor fumed.

    “I’ve seen icebergs with more diversity than… this,” another user noted.

    2025 Oscars nominees group photo with limited diversity on red auditorium seats.

    Image credits: Richard Harbaugh for The Academy

    Someone else remarked that the photo seemed to show more men than women. “Is this everyone nominated for an Oscar this year? I thought there would be more women…”

    Across the four acting categories, Colman Domingo, Zoe Saldaña, and Cynthia Erivo are the only Black performers to receive nominations.

    Also, out of the ten titles up for Best Picture, The Substance is the only film that was directed by a woman—Coralie Fargeat. The five International Feature Film nominees were all directed by men.

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    Internet users were outraged by the lack of representation among the artists pictured at the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater

    2025 Oscars nominees group in theater seating, sparking diversity outrage.

    Image credits: evenmorecontent

    Group of 2025 Oscars nominees seated in a theater, sparking diversity discussions.

    Image credits: evenmorecontent

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    In the Adapted Screenplay category, just two out of the 15 people named were women:  Nickel Boys co-writer Joslyn Barnes and Léa Mysius for Emilia Pérez.

    In Visual Effects, not a single woman was named among the 20 nominees.

    The Documentary Feature Film category, which features five titles, includes more diverse voices. Black Box Diaries wasdirected by Japanese journalistShiori Ito, and No Other Land was directed by Palestinian activist Basel Andra.

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    “I’ve seen icebergs with more diversity than… this,” one Redditor remarked

    Group of 2025 Oscars nominees sitting in theater chairs.

    Image credits: evenmorecontent

    The nominations also marked a historical first, with Karla Sofía Gascón being the first openly transgender star to be nominated for an Oscar.

    Karla stars in Emilia Pérez, which leads the Oscar nominations with 13 nods, followed by The Brutalist and Wicked, with 10 each.

    The Spanish actress was notably absent from the nominees’ class photo and dinner amid criticism for her hateful messages on X (formerly Twitter), which were largely posted between 2020 and 2021.

    The resurfaced messages were labeled as racist and Islamophobic, forcing Karla to deactivate her account and publicly apologize.

    Karla Sofía Gascón, a Best Actress nominee for Emilia Pérez, was absent amid the backlash for her hateful social media posts

    A person in formal attire at an event, relevant to 2025 Oscars nominees.

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    Image credits: karsiagascon

    “I’m sorry, is it just my impression or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels,” read one of the tweets.

    “Next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic.”

    “I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider black people to be monkeys Without rights and consider policemen to be assassins,” she also posted. “They’re all wrong.”

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    Oscars 2025 nominees announced at a grand ceremony, sparking discussions on diversity.

    Image credits: oscars

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    In 2021, Karla criticized the Academy Awards ceremony, writing, “More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M.”

    Despite the backlash, Karla will reportedly attend the event, where she’s nominated for Best Actress.

    A source told People that the actress is expected to be at the Dolby Theater on March 2 after skipping several award shows, though it remains unclear whether she will walk the red carpet.

    People commented on the 2025 Oscar nominees’ group photo

    Text comment discussing Oscars nominees diversity.

    Social media comment on Oscars nominees diversity in seating arrangement.

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    Text comment expressing difficulty in recognizing actors in a 2025 Oscars nominees photo, mentioning inclusivity issues.

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    Text comment questioning diversity among 2025 Oscars nominees.

    Oscar nominees photo sparks diversity outrage, comment reads: "Most diversity is hair color of girl in front row.

    Text commenting on lack of diversity among 2025 Oscars nominees, mentioning actors Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg.

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    Text post by user commenting on the 2025 Oscars nominees, mentioning YouTube and a school assembly.

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    Text comment on the lack of diversity among 2025 Oscars nominees, mentioning bald guys and difficulty spotting Yura Borisov.

    Comment criticizing the diversity of the 2025 Oscars nominees.

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    Marina Urman

    Marina Urman

    Author, Entertainment News Writer

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    With a degree in social science and a love for culture, I approach entertainment journalism at Bored Panda with a research-driven mindset. I write about celebrity news, Hollywood highlights, and viral stories that spark curiosity worldwide. My work has reached millions of readers and is recognized for balancing accuracy with an engaging voice. I believe that pop culture isn’t just entertainment, it reflects the social conversations shaping our time.

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    Marina Urman

    Marina Urman

    Author, Entertainment News Writer

    With a degree in social science and a love for culture, I approach entertainment journalism at Bored Panda with a research-driven mindset. I write about celebrity news, Hollywood highlights, and viral stories that spark curiosity worldwide. My work has reached millions of readers and is recognized for balancing accuracy with an engaging voice. I believe that pop culture isn’t just entertainment, it reflects the social conversations shaping our time.

    Donata Leskauskaitė

    Donata Leskauskaitė

    Author, Community member

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    Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

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    Donata Leskauskaitė

    Donata Leskauskaitė

    Author, Community member

    Hey there! I'm a Visual Editor in News team. My responsibility is to ensure that you can read the story not just through text, but also through photos. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from celebrity drama to mind-blowing Nasa cosmic news. And let me tell you, that's what makes this job an absolute blast! Outside of work, you can find me sweating it out in dance classes or unleashing my creativity by drawing and creating digital paintings of different characters that lives in my head. I also love spending time outdoors and play board games with my friends.

    What do you think ?
    RamiRudolph
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Who gives a fúck about diversity? The Oscars should be about talent, regardless of race or gender.

    ANGEL BABY
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's the point you idiot, Soo many people of color with outstanding talent shunned!!!!!

    Load More Replies...
    Nice Beast Ludo
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Karla Sofia gascon's remarks are the most disgusting thing about this post and that she still got nominated anyway. Desecrating a dead man's name by saying "no one cares about him because he is a d**g addict swindler." Anyone who watched that video and was not horrified by the police brutality is a monster. That video disturbed me so much that every time I had just a little bit of trouble breathing through my face mask I was overwhelmed by the suffering that man endured by having a police officer kneel on his neck until he was dead. I hope people DO very much care about that.

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    Ally Joy
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hollywood’s commitment to diversity is truly inspiring—just look all the way in the back row. No, further. Keep going. There it is!

    RamiRudolph
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Who gives a fúck about diversity? The Oscars should be about talent, regardless of race or gender.

    ANGEL BABY
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's the point you idiot, Soo many people of color with outstanding talent shunned!!!!!

    Load More Replies...
    Nice Beast Ludo
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Karla Sofia gascon's remarks are the most disgusting thing about this post and that she still got nominated anyway. Desecrating a dead man's name by saying "no one cares about him because he is a d**g addict swindler." Anyone who watched that video and was not horrified by the police brutality is a monster. That video disturbed me so much that every time I had just a little bit of trouble breathing through my face mask I was overwhelmed by the suffering that man endured by having a police officer kneel on his neck until he was dead. I hope people DO very much care about that.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    Ally Joy
    Community Member
    9 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hollywood’s commitment to diversity is truly inspiring—just look all the way in the back row. No, further. Keep going. There it is!

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