Several notable people were left out of the 98th Academy Awards In Memoriam segment, which honored the filmmaking talent that passed away over the last year.
Beloved stars, including Catherine O’Hara, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Val Kilmer, Robert Duvall, Dianne Ladd, Michael Madsen, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Udo Kier, and filmmaker Rob Reiner, were all honored in the tribute at this year’s Oscars, which was expanded to accommodate more people. But the TV broadcast omitted several notable actors, including Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Robert Carradine, June Lockhart, Bud Cort, and Brigitte Bardot.
Other names that didn’t appear during the broadcast, but were mentioned on the Academy’s website, included George Wendt, Loretta Swit, Demond Wilson, James Ransome, Julian McMahon, and Danielle Spencer. While many of the names that didn’t appear during the broadcast were more famous for their work in TV, such as Eric Dane with Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, they also had major film credits to their names.
Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Shonda Rhimes spoke with Entertainment Tonight, where she was asked about Dane’s omission from the segment. “He’s not a movie star,” she said. “I feel like, when the Emmys come around, he will be immortalized the way he should be. You can’t fault the Oscars for the fact that they’re looking at movies, and there were so many people who [we] lost. But Eric was unique to television, and I can’t wait to see what [the Emmys] do with him.”
Each year, the Oscars face criticism for the omission of talent in the In Memoriam segment. Last year, for instance, actors Michelle Trachtenberg, Tony Todd, Olivia Hussey, Alain Delon, and Chance Perdomo were not mentioned. In 2023, the Oscars garnered controversy after several actors were included on a larger list at the end of the In Memoriam segment, including Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Ron Cephas Jones, and Ray Stevenson.