The 10 Most Shocking Oscar Snubs Of 2025 And The Biggest Oversights In Academy History

Every year, the Academy Awards nominations announcement is a moment of both celebration and intense frustration. While a select few are honored with a coveted nod, the list of snubs—the films, actors, and directors whose brilliant work was inexplicably overlooked—often sparks the loudest conversations. As of this current date, December 15, 2025, the dust has settled on the 97th Academy Awards, but the shockwaves from the 2025 nomination omissions continue to reverberate across the industry and among film fans.

The 2025 ceremony was dominated by major contenders like *Emilia Pérez* and *The Brutalist*, yet the sheer number of high-profile shutouts in key categories has led many to question the Academy's judgment once again. From A-list actors to critically acclaimed scores, these are the most recent and the most enduring snubs that define the controversy of the Oscars.

The Most Egregious Omissions from the 2025 Oscar Nominations (97th Academy Awards)

The 97th Academy Awards, held in 2025, delivered a fresh batch of bewildering exclusions. These snubs affected major stars and films that had dominated the precursor awards circuit, proving that momentum is never a guarantee in the unpredictable world of Academy voting.

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1. Nicole Kidman for *Babygirl*

In one of the most talked-about snubs of the year, veteran actress Nicole Kidman, who was widely considered a lock for a Best Actress nomination for her performance in *Babygirl*, was completely shut out. Her intense, critically lauded turn had earned her significant precursor awards buzz, making her omission a genuine shock. Many critics pointed to this as a failure of the Academy's international wing to fully embrace a challenging, non-traditional role.

2. Denzel Washington for *Gladiator II*

Despite the high-profile nature of the film and Denzel Washington's consistently praised supporting role in the much-anticipated sequel *Gladiator II*, the legendary actor failed to secure a nomination. The Academy often favors established stars, but Washington's absence from the Best Supporting Actor category was a major talking point, suggesting the film itself may have underperformed with the voting body.

3. The Score and Technical Categories for *Challengers*

Luca Guadagnino's tennis drama *Challengers* was a critical darling, but its complete shutout from the major categories, particularly the Best Original Score, was seen as a massive oversight. The film's unique, pulsating electronic score, which was integral to its narrative and tone, was a favorite among critics and technical guilds but was ignored by the Academy. This snub highlighted a persistent bias against non-traditional film scores.

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4. Selena Gomez for *Emilia Pérez*

While *Emilia Pérez* led the nominations with an impressive 13 nods, its star, Selena Gomez, was conspicuously absent from the Best Supporting Actress category. Her performance was a key component of the musical crime drama's success, and her omission was a surprising crack in the film's otherwise dominant performance with the Academy.

5. Margaret Qualley for *The Substance*

Margaret Qualley’s daring and physically demanding role in the body-horror film *The Substance* was hailed as a career-best performance. However, the film's genre—often overlooked by the Academy—may have contributed to her snub in the Best Actress category, despite its critical acclaim and precursor recognition.

The Pantheon of Historical Oscar Snubs: The Unforgivable Oversights

Beyond the recent controversies of the 2025 ceremony, the history of the Academy Awards is littered with moments of baffling oversight that have become part of Hollywood folklore. These perennial snubs are often cited as evidence of the Academy’s flawed voting process and occasional shortsightedness.

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The Eternal Snub: Stanley Kubrick

Perhaps the most famous and egregious snub in history belongs to legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Widely regarded as one of the most influential and important filmmakers of all time, Kubrick amassed 13 nominations throughout his singular career but never won a competitive Oscar. His loss for Best Director for the groundbreaking masterpiece *2001: A Space Odyssey* to Carol Reed for *Oliver!* remains a flashpoint for cinephiles. He was eventually awarded a statuette for lifetime achievement, a consolation prize many felt was "too little, too late."

The Best Picture Tragedy: *The Shawshank Redemption* (1994)

*The Shawshank Redemption* is consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, yet at the 67th Academy Awards, it went a crushing 0-for-7. The film lost Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman), and Best Adapted Screenplay, among others, to the sweeping success of Robert Zemeckis’ *Forrest Gump*. Its failure to win any major awards is a textbook example of a timeless classic being overshadowed by the popular favorite of the moment, cementing its place as one of the most heartbreaking snubs in Oscar history.

Spike Lee and *Do the Right Thing* (1989)

Spike Lee’s seminal film *Do the Right Thing* is a masterpiece of American cinema, a culturally significant and politically charged work that spoke directly to the social tensions of its time. Despite its critical acclaim, the film received only two nominations (Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello and Best Original Screenplay for Lee) and won none. The biggest snub of all was its omission from the Best Picture and Best Director categories, which were instead won by *Driving Miss Daisy*. This oversight is frequently cited as a major example of the Academy’s historical struggle with diversity and recognizing challenging, non-traditional narratives, leading to "explosive blowback" from critics and the public.

Understanding the Academy’s Controversial Voting Process

The persistent nature of Oscar snubs is often rooted in the mechanics and demographics of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Academy's voting body consists of thousands of industry professionals across various branches (actors, directors, writers, etc.).

• The Preferential Ballot: For Best Picture, the Academy uses a complex preferential ballot (Single Transferable Vote, or STV) system, introduced in 2009. This system prioritizes consensus over a simple majority, which can lead to polarizing but critically acclaimed films missing out in favor of a broadly liked compromise choice.
• Branch-Specific Voting: In most other categories, only members of that specific branch vote for the nominees (e.g., only Directors nominate Best Director). This can lead to internal biases, where a film like *Challengers* might be popular with the general membership but fail to gain traction with the small, specialized music branch.
• The Diversity Question: Historical snubs like Spike Lee's *Do the Right Thing* and the overall lack of diversity in past nominations have led to significant controversy. In recent years, the Academy has made efforts to increase and diversify its membership to address these systemic issues, though snubs like those in 2025 demonstrate that the process remains imperfect.
• Controversies and Scrutiny: The integrity of the voting has also been questioned, most notably with the 2017 PwC scandal involving the Best Picture envelope mix-up, which placed the entire vote-counting system under intense scrutiny.

The annual list of snubs—be it the shocking 2025 omissions of Amy Adams, Tilda Swinton, and Daniel Craig, or the enduring legacy of Stanley Kubrick's empty mantle—serves as a powerful reminder that the Oscars are a subjective, political, and often flawed barometer of cinematic excellence. While the golden statue is the ultimate prize, the enduring legacy of a truly great, yet snubbed, film or performance often outlasts the memory of the winner.