THE Academy has asphyxiated half its audience with preachy woke celebrities and gloating social justice gestures, a public relations specialist has said.
Reputation management expert Eric Schiffer said the death of primetime and an increasingly hostile political climate has seen the Oscars spiral into an implosion of irrelevance.
Nearly a decade ago, A-list actors and directors donned “Time’s Up” pins to signal their support for the MeToo movement – which highlighted actresses’ harrowing sexual encounters with powerful men in Hollywood.
At the center of the movement was mega producer Harvey Weinstein, who has now been convicted of rape and another sex crimes.
But in the background, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was preparing to suffer a severe drop off in viewership, as Americans cut off cable and turned to social media for updates.
While viewership wavered around 30million until 2019 – it dropped to 24million in 2020 and severely fell to 10million in 2021.
Since then, it’s been slowly climbing back, earning ratings of around 19.7million in 2025.
All of these numbers cower in the shadow of a peak year in 1994, when over 46million people watched with delight as beloved blockbuster Titanic swept.
Although the change in the media landscape can’t be ignored, Schiffer suggested the overpoliticization of art worsened the issue, as average Americans feel alienated by the elite virtue signaling.
“There’s a relatability factor with what many see as ‘out-of-touch celebrity elitism’ run amok at these shows,” he exclusively told The U.S. Sun.
“A lot of political marauding that Middle America certainly doesn’t connect with, and if anything, mocks.”
Schiffer said Hollywood treats an Oscar mic “like a gold-plated assault weapon for self-absorbed self-righteous elite” and he anticipates another very political showing this year.
“At least one winner is going to turn the stage into a drive-by on half the country,” he said.
Josh Safdie controversy
Circa 2018, no man or woman was safe from career-ending Me Too allegations.
But this year, Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie is still eyeing a Best Picture award despite facing bombshell allegations of his own.
High on drugs, actor Buddy Duress, who died of an overdose in 2023, pulled down his pants during a sex scene shoot and asked if “he could stick it in,” sources told the outlet.
“Any director who had seen that should have yelled ‘Cut!’ and stopped the scene, but Josh let it continue,” an on-set source claimed.
Later that day, the horrified actress revealed that she was a minor – which Josh didn’t know until after the scene was shot, the sources said.
The scene didn’t make it in the final cut, and was said to have fractured the relationship between the brothers, who both now work solo.
But despite the terrifying story coming to light, Marty Supreme still remains a frontrunner for Best Picture, earning a grand total of nine nominations.
Plus, Josh hasn’t said anything about the report, and declined to comment when approached by Page Six.
Speaking about the tone shift, Schiffer pointed to the White House and how the presidential administration can have a trickle down effect.
He suggested the fiery Donald Trump-led leadership could inadvertently quiet stories that may have created more waves in other administrations.
“The power structure at play is not elevating those types of stories […] there’s less policy behind those types of actions,” he said.
“And because of that, the media doesn’t cover it as often.”
Lasting effects of Me Too
Despite the apparent tone shift, producer Dawn Dunning, who testified against Weinstein in his first trial, said she feels confident the echoes of Me Too will have lasting effects.
“There has been great cultural and legislative change, as well as an ongoing societal change,” she told The U.S. Sun.
“Things like several states banning the use of NDA’s, a substantial number of bills addressing workplace harassment and gender equity that have passed or are on the table, the model alliance/ fashion workers act including a lot of internal changes at SAG.”
Dunning speculated that it’s hard for the Academy to “impose restrictions” on people embroiled in scandals but not accused of crimes.
But she said there’s an increase in societal awareness which makes incidents of sexual abuse and harassment much more rare.
“While I do not think it has eliminated sexual abuse and harassment the Me Too movement has made it easier to speak out and report this abuse,” she said.
“It has increased awareness and I think for the most part these reports are taken much more seriously.
“It’s not perfect and never will be but we are in a much better place than we were pre-2017.”
Future of the Oscars
The Academy has insisted that no matter what, the show will go on Sunday, and filmmakers, actors, and production crew will be rewarded for another year of excellent showings.
The number of people who will sit down to watch remains a mystery, though recent trends suggest it could be slightly more than last year.
For Schiffer, the Academy needs to focus more on the love of movies and less on the issue of the day if they want to get some significant ratings.
“To me, the Oscars should be a uniting symbol,” he said.
“The power of film brings everyone in from all backgrounds to watch a story and connect and feel emotion, not to split and have people feel outcast in the process.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Academy and Safdie for comment.
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