The Hurt Locker has a good shot at winning a few awards at the Oscars this Sunday, but one of the movie’s producers won’t be there to see if it wins.

Nicolas Chartier has been banned from the Oscars award show for sending emails to members of the voting Academy urging them to vote for The Hurt Locker. None of the nominations for The Hurt Locker have been removed. He is not allow in the Kodak Theatre in any way according to the LA Times, even as a guest. This is the first time any single person has been banned from the Oscars, so you know this is a serious matter.

The executive committee of the producers branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences banned Chartier, because it’s against the rules to send messages promoting or insulting any of the nominated films.

Chartier’s email said, “…if everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film, we need independent movies to win…” This is an obvious dig at James Cameron’s Avatar, which isn’t looked upon too kindly.

He has since apologized saying his email was “out of line and not in the spirit of the celebration of
cinema.”

He will still get his Academy Award statue if the movie wins. This Oscars scandal could change the voters mind even if they were going to vote for The Hurt Locker. It’s a shame because the movie is the best contender against Avatar. Even if it does win now, we will always wonder if this had anything to do with the choice.

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Tags: Academy Awards, avatar, award show, Best Picture, james cameron, Nicolas Chartier, Oscar nominees, oscars, producer, The Hurt Locker, winners

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