15.4 million TV viewers worldwide watched the award ceremony spectacle in Hollywood last year, and on Monday night (CET) millions of film fans will again want to see the stars and the glamor of the Academy Awards – a European media star will become However, it cannot be seen: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (45) is said to have already been discreetly uninvited by the Oscar organizers, and an engagement plus speech is not desired.
For the ex-series actor in Kiev and his government, this is a severe defeat in public relations: after all, Selenskyj could have denounced the Russian war of aggression again and described his version of current events in Ukraine in front of an audience of millions and the world press. The appearance at the Oscars would be extremely valuable for Zelenskyj.
But now everything should be different: Selenskyj, who has already received a loan Oscar from the well-known US actor Sean Penn to Kiev, is now not wanted as a speaker at the Academy Awards.
There is currently a lot of speculation about the reasons: In the USA it is reported that a possible appearance by the Ukrainian President “puts too much emphasis on a white war, while the major problems of the Afro-American population in the USA are not sufficiently taken into account”.
Other political insiders believe that this should be seen as another sign that the US government is moving away from Zelenskyy: the ally, previously highly praised in Washington, could not – as the current situation on the front in eastern Ukraine shows – not keep what he promises.
The visit of the German Chancellor to Washington a week ago is also interesting: as is well known, essential parts of the conversation between Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz remained secret. A little later, versions of the Nord Stream terror were suddenly published in the USA and Germany at the same time. In both reports, a “pro-Ukrainian group” – and thus also indirectly the Ukrainian government – was charged as a suspect.