- Ellen DeGeneres’ broadly circulated Oscars selfie was taken on March 2, 2014 — 10 years in the past.
- The picture as soon as had the web in a chokehold. How occasions have modified.
- A number of of the celebrities within the picture have change into persona non grata, irrelevant, or just put, uncool.
Ellen DeGeneres’ internet-breaking Oscars selfie was taken 10 years in the past and wow, has it aged badly.
In case your reminiscence wants jogging whereas internet hosting the 86th Academy Awards, the then ubiquitous tv character gathered a slew of Hollywood A-listers to take a selfie halfway via the ceremony on what seemed to be her cellphone.
The picture, that includes Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o, her brother Junior, Channing Tatum, Kevin Spacey, and a barely seen Jared Leto, went stratospherically viral after DeGeneres posted it to Twitter, garnering more than 2 million retweets by the point the ceremony ended.
For some time, it was essentially the most reposted picture ever. Then, it was essentially the most lazily parodied selfie. Then it emerged that, regardless of denial from Samsung, who offered the cellphone for the selfie and shelled out $20 million to sponsor that yr’s awards, it was an orchestrated advertising and marketing stunt to place their new handset entrance and heart.
The revelation that the second wasn’t spontaneous is not the one purpose emotions concerning the picture have since soured. Positive, it sucks to study that what we believed was an impromptu second of good-natured A-list enjoyable was a canny form of product placement, however 10 years on, most of the stars within the photographs have both change into persona non grata, irrelevant, or just put, uncool.
Let’s begin with the plain: Kevin Spacey seems bang heart within the center, having one way or the other obtained himself a seat shut sufficient to the stage to leap into the again of the selfie, regardless of not showing in any movies that awards season.
His stellar profession got here to a juddering halt in 2017 after allegations of inappropriate habits had been made towards him. Though he was exonerated, cleared of assault prices in trials within the US and UK, he’s nonetheless enduring a backlash each time he is platformed.
Then there’s DeGeneres herself. The previous on-screen staple’s long-running NBC speak present was hit with accusations of a poisonous studio tradition, saturated with worry and intimidation, by visitors and staff in 2020, main to very large scrutiny. The collection was canceled a yr later, and DeGeneres hasn’t appeared in a daily TV function since.
In the meantime, because the picture was taken, former Hollywood energy couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have headed to Splitsville, finalizing their divorce in 2019, and issues have solely obtained messier since. The 2 have been locked in a bitter lawsuit over their joint French winemaking property since early 2022, in addition to a custody battle over their kids, who Jolie has accused Pitt of being abusive towards.
What else? Jared Leto may or may not be an aspiring leader of a cult, Jennifer Lawrence had the tide of public opinion flip towards her, admittedly for doing little improper besides being overexposed.
That is one thing we’re seeing occurring to Bradley Cooper in actual time as he mounts his Oscar marketing campaign for “Maestro.” The actor-director is arguably the least coolest individual in Hollywood proper now, because of his earnest efforts to make an Oscar-worthy image, and plainly each time he opens his mouth, he makes it worse.
There’s not a lot to be stated for Channing Tatum, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, et al., besides when was the final time you noticed them in a film that excited you?
If one other Oscar selfie had been to be taken at this yr’s ceremony, I can not think about any of those stars would make it in.
