This year’s Oscars In Memoriam honored numerous icons of the entertainment industry that we lost over the past year, including Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, Jeff Baena, David Lynch, and Gene Hackman, the last of whom was praised on Sunday night by Morgan Freeman as a two-time Oscar winner who “won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”
However, several stars who died in the last year were missing from Sunday night’s sentimental segment, among whom were Shannen Doherty (Beverly Hills, 90210, Heathers), Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gossip Girl), Tony Todd (Candyman, Final Destination), Mitzi Gaynor (South Pacific), Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet), Bernard Hill (Lord of the Rings, Titanic), and though controversial, O.J. Simpson (The Naked Gun).
Many fans of Trachtenberg, who died last week at just 39 years old, called out her snub on X, including one critic who deemed it “absolutely disgusting.”
“Justice for Michelle Trachtenberg. #InMemoriam,” someone wrote.
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However, another person pointed out how Trachtenberg “was more known for her TV work than film,” and noted that they “expect to see her in the #Emmys’ In Memoriam segment.”
As for Todd, who passed away in November, one critic highlighted how “neither BAFTA nor The Academy” honored him in their respective “In Memoriam” segments.
“livid doesn’t cover it. rest in peace, king,” they added.
Doherty’s absence from the special was considered “an outrageous slap in the face” by another person on X.
“She was a groundbreaker in the way she stood up for herself and voiced her own opinions during a time when women in the industry were supposed to keep quiet,” they wrote.
Despite their absence from the live broadcast, Doherty, Gaynor, Hill, Hussey, Todd, and Trachtenberg are all featured on the Oscars In Memoriam web page, per Cinemablend.