Although the high-stakes drama of awards season often mirrors the intensity of the Super Bowl for film buffs, winning an Oscar isn’t a sport.
Film is inherently subjective, making it impossible to crown an undisputed champion across the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 24 categories.
As a result, every awards season sparks debate over who truly deserved to win. In some cases, critics and audiences align almost unanimously — only to find themselves baffled by the Academy’s final choices.
Case in point: the Oscars 2026 nominations just dropped, and the shortlist has already proven controversial. Ariana Grande received widespread praise for her role as Glinda the Good in Wicked: For Good, and so did Odessa A'Zion in her role in Marty Supreme. However, both ladies were noticeably absent from the Best Supporting Actress category. In the Best Supporting Actor category, Paul Mescal was also overlooked, despite earning plenty of universal praise for his Hamnet performance. And fan-favorite Chase Infiniti, from One Battle After Another, was omitted from the Lead Actress category.
Unfortunately, though, there have been worse snubs than this. Below is Complex’s ranking of 12 biggest Oscar snubs of all time, ranked.
12.Glenn Close
Glenn Close is a Hollywood icon. And yet, somehow, Close has yet to win an Oscar. She has since amassed 8 Oscar nominations and is now the actress with the most nominations without a win. Most notably, her fans argue that she should have won for her performance in Fatal Attraction as Alex, a category she ultimately lost to Cher for her role in Moonstruck.
11.Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez received critical acclaim for her role in 2020’s Hustlers, with many praising her for her nuanced performance as Ramona. She garnered a ton of buzz during this campaign cycle but failed to receive any nominations for her performance.
10.Adam Sandler
Great actors are often defined by range, but a radical departure from type can be just as impressive. Adam Sandler’s nerve-shredding turn as compulsive gambler Howard Ratner in the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems was widely hailed as the performance of his career. Despite overwhelming praise from critics and peers, Sandler wasn’t even nominated — one of the Academy’s most perplexing modern snubs.
9.Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy entered the 2006 awards season as the clear frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor for his electric performance as James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls. Despite earning a nomination, Murphy lost momentum after the release of Norbit, a critically reviled comedy that reportedly soured voters. The loss marked a turning point — Murphy has not received another acting nomination.
8.Greta Gerwig
In the 2010s, the Academy’s lack of female representation in the Best Director category became a cultural flashpoint. That scrutiny returned in 2023, when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, a critical and commercial phenomenon with a bold message and lush aesthetic, was widely expected to earn a Best Director nom. While the film landed a Best Picture nod, Gerwig herself was shut out, making the omission one of the most glaring recent snubs.
7.Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
The Rock now joins this list as one of the most recent snubs. The former wrestler was believed to have generated enough buzz to finally break through and receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine. However, when the noms released, Johnson’s name was notably absent from the list of leading men.
6.Akira Kurosawa
One of cinema’s most influential directors, Akira Kurosawa, received shockingly little recognition from the Academy. His epic Ran earned a Best Director nomination in 1985 but lost to Out of Africa. The Academy attempted to correct course with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990, though it hardly compensates for decades of neglect.
5.Spike Lee
Spike Lee’s career-long tension with the Academy mirrors the systemic critiques embedded in his films. The most egregious snub came in 1989, when Do the Right Thing — now considered a cultural landmark — was denied a Best Picture nomination. Though Lee eventually won Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKKKlansman, Best Picture and Best Director continue to elude him.
4.Angela Bassett
Bassett was nominated twice in her career: for her role in 1994’s Tina Turner biopic, What’s Love Got to Do with It, and again in 2023 for a standout performance in Black Panther. However, she lost both of these and wouldn’t receive recognition from the Oscars until she received her 2024 Academy Honorary award. Maybe one day the elite actress will get her respect.
3.Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was notoriously snubbed throughout his iconic career. Kubrick released legendary films like Barry Lyndon, Clockwork Orange, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Through his work, he earned 13 Oscar nominations. However, the influential director would only win one award: an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects in 1969. Kubrick was snubbed for the rest of his nominations, including all of his Best Director nods.
2.Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington’s towering performance as Malcolm X remains one of the most powerful biographical portrayals in film history. Yet the Academy awarded Best Actor to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman, widely viewed as a “makeup Oscar.” Ironically, Washington would later receive his own makeup win for Training Day, cementing Malcolm X as one of the most painful acting snubs ever.
1.Alfred Hitchcock
Few filmmakers loom larger over cinema history than Alfred Hitchcock. His influence shaped the visual language of film, yet he never won a competitive Oscar. Despite classics like Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and North by Northwest, Hitchcock was repeatedly overlooked. His absence from the Academy’s winner circle remains the most baffling snub of them all.