Bill Paxton Oscars In Memoriam Addition Was Cut for Song Timing, Adam Carolla Says
Academy tried to squeeze in “Aliens” star last-minute, according to Oscar show writer
Tony Maglio | February 28, 2017 @ 12:32 PM
Last Updated: February 28, 2017 @ 2:39 PM
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Bill Paxton died Saturday at age 61. A day later, he was briefly memorialized by Jennifer Aniston when she introduced the 89th Academy Awards’ In Memoriam segment — but the late star didn’t make the actual montage.
While Paxton was not included in the show’s footage, which was accompanied by a live rendition of “Both Sides Now” by Sara Bareilles, Oscars writer Adam Carolla said the “Titanic” star was supposed to have been added. Or at least, the podcasting king was told by a fellow show scribe that producers tried to add the prolific actor, but ultimately scrapped the last-minute inclusion for timing reasons.
Updated Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. ET: An Academy spokesperson denied the accuracy of the second-hand account shared Tuesday by Carolla, telling TheWrap, “We’d planned for Jennifer Aniston as soon as we found out. He was not inserted, at any point.”
“I saw the In Memoriam the night before,” Carolla said on his Tuesday podcast, which was recorded a day earlier. “I did not see the In Memoriam from the morning [rehearsal], ’cause I was not there.”
“They were having problems with Sara Bareilles singing, the timing to the music,” Carolla said the other writer told him. “It was going in and going out and they needed to get the time with the song perfectly.”
Listen to Carolla’s full story here, with this part beginning just before the 30-minute mark.
The Academy said Carolla’s account is untrue. A spokesperson told TheWrap, “We’d planned for Jennifer Aniston as soon as we found out.”
Typically, the Oscars In Memoriam segment is reserved for members of the film community who have died during the 12 months that begin on Feb. 1 of the preceding year and end on Jan. 31 of the year in which it is broadcast.
That deadline is occasionally broken, however: In 2014, writer-director Harold Ramis died the Monday of Oscar week, and was quickly added to In Memoriam. That same year, stagehand Sarah Jones, who was killed in an on-set accident about a week and a half before the ceremony, was memorialized in a card at the end of the segment.
Those are rare exceptions. Last year’s In Memoriam did not include Oscar-wining actor George Kennedy, who died the day of the show, or “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee, who died 11 days before the Oscars. The latest death to be included was Pixar writer Daniel Gerson, who died on Feb. 6 last year.
21 Best and Worst Oscars Moments of 2017, From Viola Davis to Warren Beatty (Photos)
This year's Academy Awards featured an insanely cute kid, some uncomfortable name-shaming -- and one of the biggest flubs in the nearly 100-year history of the ceremony
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WORST: People Magazine editor and red carpet host Jess Cagle revived this year's Golden Globes faux pas, mentioning "Hidden Fences" as one of 2016's extraordinary films.
ABC
BEST: Jimmy Kimmel honors Meryl Streep with a standing ovation and a tongue-in-cheek homage to an actress who "has stood the test of time for her many uninspiring and overrated performances"
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BEST: "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali gives a touching speech honoring his grandmother and four-day-old child after winning the Oscar for Best Actor
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WORST: Critically panned superhero flick "Suicide Squad" wins an Oscar for makeup, giving the film as many Academy Awards as "Citizen Kane"
Warner Bros.
BEST: The cast of "Hidden Figures" brings out one of the film's true-life inspirations, NASA scientist Katharine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson in the movie)
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BEST: The rich get richer: Jimmy Kimmel floated bags of sweets to the crowd with a massive balloon drop
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WORST/BEST: "Moana" star Auli'i Cravalho got hit in the head with a flag while performing the song "How Far I'll Go" from the Disney film, but the 16-year-old wasn't flustered and brought down the house with her singing
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BEST: "Fences'" Viola Davis gives an emotional speech honoring her family and August Wilson after accepting her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress
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BEST: After Iran's "The Salesman" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, director Asghar Farhadi (who boycotted the ceremony) explained his reasons in a heartfelt and pointed statement read by an Iranian-American engineer and astronaut
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BEST: Jimmy Kimmel brings a bus full of Hollywood tourists to the front row of the Academy Awards -- and Denzel Washington unofficially marries an engaged couple
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WORST: Jimmy Kimmel makes fun of one of the tourists' name, while saying "now that's a name" to her husband, named Patrick
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WORST: Seth Rogen (poorly) sings "Hamilton" songs while presenting the Academy Award for Best Film Editing alongside Michael J. Fox
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BEST/WORST: Kimmel conducts a brief interview with "Lion" star Sunny Pawar, but an homage to Disney's "Lion King" comes off a little awkward
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BEST: Kimmel tries to engage the President on his preferred medium: Twitter
Twitter
BEST: The host unveils an Oscar-themed version of one of his late-night show's signature bits, Mean Tweets
ABC
BEST: Kimmel introduces presenters Ben Affleck and erstwhile rival Matt Damon as "Ben Affleck and guest," and has Damon played off by the orchestra during his announcement of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
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WORST: Halle Berry incorrectly pronounces "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle's name as "Shazeel" when announcing his win for Best Director
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BEST: "Manchester by the Sea" director Kenneth Lonergan wins his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and says his film is "about people trying to take care of each other in terrible diversity" in a heartfelt speech
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WORST: Emma Stone wins the Oscar for Best Actress for musical "La La Land," despite her lack of top-end singing skills -- and a field including Isabelle Huppert, Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman
Beatty’s Best Picture flub was one of the biggest Oscar bloopers of all time
This year's Academy Awards featured an insanely cute kid, some uncomfortable name-shaming -- and one of the biggest flubs in the nearly 100-year history of the ceremony