As every year, the Oscars also remembered those who died in the previous year or the months before the award ceremony in this year’s “In Memoriam” segment. On the night of Sunday to Monday (March 11, 2024), people paid tribute to Alan Arkin, Harry Belafonte, Andre Braugher, Tina Turner and Matthew Perry and, at the beginning, to the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. However, in the eyes of some critics, some deceased artists were inadequately honored.
The actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Ray Stevenson, the writer Cormac McCarthy, the singer Sinéad O’Connor and several others were de facto mentioned – but their names were only visible in small print at the very end of the segment in a kind of collective list. This was accompanied by a performance by Andrea and Matteo Bocelli including dancers with the song “Time To Say Goodbye”.
Criticism of the Oscars
“The Oscars ‘In Memoriam’ was such a mess…how can you disrespect all those people at the end by just putting up a wall of names that barely stays up for 10 seconds?” RIP Lance Reddick, Ray Stevenson, Treat Williams and everyone else on this wall of names who deserve better,” wrote one angry X user.
Other users of the short message service were annoyed that this year the focus of the segment was more on the dancers and the musical act and less on the deceased. “How about a full screen view of the memorial video so we can read the names? This is a terrible setup. With all due respect, the singers should not be the focus,” writes one user.
These are all the deceased who were individually mentioned in the “In Memorian” segment:
Michael Gambon
Norman Jewison
Harry Belafonte
Diana Giorgutti
Alan Arkin
Nitin Chandrakant Desai
Bo Goldman
Norman Reynolds
Julian Sands
Mark Gustafson
Andre Braugher
Chita Rivera
Tom Wilkinson
Glynis Johns
Jane Birkin
Paul Reubens
Piper Laurie
Richard Roundtree
Ryan O’Neal
Cynthia Weil
Bill Lee
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Robbie Robertson
Margaret Riley
Hengameh Panahi
Michael Latt
Nancy Buirski
Sue Marx
Peter Berkos
Osvaldo Desideri
Joanna Merlin
Erik Lomis
Glenn Farr
Leon Ichaso
Robert M Young
Greg Morrison
Jake Bloom
Matthew Perry
John Bailey
Richard Lewis
Edward Marks
John Refoua
Lawrence Turman
Lee Sun Kyun
Dewitt L. Sage Jr.
Arthur Schmidt
Bill Butler
Carl Weathers
William Friedkin
Glenda Jackson
Tina Turner
All other names and additional honors can be found on the Oscars website.