The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed that an appearance from Garfield and 'Batkid' at this year's Oscars was scrapped at the last minute. Miles' family had come to Los Angeles for the segment, but on the day of the ceremony (this past Sunday) they're were advised plans had changed.
Originally the pair were going to be a part of "moving moment" in the show which was to "illustrate the theme of how movies have inspired" the shows producer Neil Meron said last month. Essentially AMPAS and Make-A-Wish planned to make him an "official superhero" during the ceremony.
Instead, the original segment was cut and the slot was replaced by Captain America's Chris Evans introducing a 'movie hero' montage. The reason for the change is said to be "due to the logistics of production" according to the Academy.
Various other media outlets have been reporting a different cause - that Garfield allegedly stormed off during rehearsals as he refused to go by the script and wanted to do his own lines - something the producers thought weren't appropriate.
Garfield's rep has now hit back at the claims, telling US Weekly:
"Here are the facts. In full collaboration with the Academy and the show writer, Andrew prepared a segment for the Oscars to honor Miles Scott as the true hero that he is. At some point overnight on Saturday/Sunday morning, it was decided by those running the show that the segment didn't work in the ceremony. They decided to pull it - Andrew and Miles were equally upset. The producers arranged for Miles and his family to visit Disneyland on Monday and Andrew drove down to visit them and to bring Miles a personal gift. Andrew did the right thing for Batkid and anyone saying otherwise is flat out lying."
I never believed that Garfield would leave Miles and the producers on the hook like that over the script--Garfield feels a certain responsibility playing the webhead as evidenced by comments that he's made previously. Great Job Andrew!
No comments:
Post a Comment