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posted by Lindsay Robertson - Mon Mar 8 2010, 4:46 AM PST 60 comments
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett Michael Caulfield/Wireimage.com Anyone who watched the entire Oscar broadcast last night couldn't help but say "What was that?" when one man's speech was crashed by a lady in a purple jacket. It was all too reminiscent of another abrupt takeover of an award-acceptance speech, which is why the mystery woman was immediately dubbed "Lady Kanye" in Internet chatter.
In a bizarre moment that was eerily similar to Kanye West's storming of the MTV Video Music Awards stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, filmmaker Roger Ross Williams was just a few seconds into his acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short, "Music By Prudence," when the ambush happened. A redheaded woman suddenly appeared next to Williams, took over the microphone saying, "Isn't it just like a man not to let the woman talk?" She then launched into her own speech as Williams stood there uncomfortably holding his award until the music began to play and the two were ushered off stage. Watch a clip from the show to see for yourself:
[youtube]dAZUKDnZfbw[/youtube]
So... what on Earth was that?
Turns out the lady in purple wasn't a showboating entertainer attempting to steal the spotlight from the real winner -- "Lady Kanye" was a credited producer of the film (her name is Elinor Burkett). In other words, unlike Kanye West, Burkett did have a legitimate claim to the Oscar microphone. Or at least part of it.
Each producer claims credit for the idea of "Music By Prudence," the inspiring story of a Zimbabwean singer/songwriter who was born disabled. But the Academy's strict rules on acceptance speeches only allow time for one person to speak. Clearly neither filmmaker wanted to surrender the speech to the other. (In fact, if you watch the video carefully, you can see that Williams was waiting in the aisle when the award was announced, and seemed to race to the stage with remarkable speed.)
In contrast to the Kanye West incident, which occurred only during the live TV broadcast, a backstage Oscar "thank-you cam" shows that Burkett was still pursuing Williams even after the televised fracas.
According to Salon.com, which wrangled separate phone interviews with both Williams and Burkett shortly after the incident, the two filmmakers have been in a dispute about the film for over a year.
Burkett, critically acclaimed author of several nonfiction books about subjects like the AIDS crisis and abuse in the Catholic Church, says the movie was her idea and that Williams "hadn't even heard of Zimbabwe before [she] told him about this." She also says the two clashed over the film's direction. Their argument resulted in a lawsuit that was "settled amicably out of court." Burkett also accuses Williams of not passing along invites to parties the two were invited to for the film, and even says that her race to the stage was intentionally impeded by Williams' mother's cane.
Williams disputes Burkett's account of the cane-tripping incident, saying his mother was just getting up to hug him. He also claims he was as much a part of the film as Burkett, citing the money he spent to fly to Zimbabwe to put the film together after Burkett told him about seeing Prudence perform. Calling the incident an "ambush," Williams said he had a speech prepared that he was unable to deliver. But he added that he's still happy about the award, saying "There are times when there's disagreement and dispute and you always hope that people will rise up to the occasion. It doesn't diminish it."
http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/blog/69-the-story-behind-the-oscars-weird-lady-kanye-momenthttp://www.facebook.com/YahooMovies
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett Michael Caulfield/Wireimage.com Anyone who watched the entire Oscar broadcast last night couldn't help but say "What was that?" when one man's speech was crashed by a lady in a purple jacket. It was all too reminiscent of another abrupt takeover of an award-acceptance speech, which is why the mystery woman was immediately dubbed "Lady Kanye" in Internet chatter.
In a bizarre moment that was eerily similar to Kanye West's storming of the MTV Video Music Awards stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, filmmaker Roger Ross Williams was just a few seconds into his acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short, "Music By Prudence," when the ambush happened. A redheaded woman suddenly appeared next to Williams, took over the microphone saying, "Isn't it just like a man not to let the woman talk?" She then launched into her own speech as Williams stood there uncomfortably holding his award until the music began to play and the two were ushered off stage. Watch a clip from the show to see for yourself:
[youtube]dAZUKDnZfbw[/youtube]
So... what on Earth was that?
Turns out the lady in purple wasn't a showboating entertainer attempting to steal the spotlight from the real winner -- "Lady Kanye" was a credited producer of the film (her name is Elinor Burkett). In other words, unlike Kanye West, Burkett did have a legitimate claim to the Oscar microphone. Or at least part of it.
Each producer claims credit for the idea of "Music By Prudence," the inspiring story of a Zimbabwean singer/songwriter who was born disabled. But the Academy's strict rules on acceptance speeches only allow time for one person to speak. Clearly neither filmmaker wanted to surrender the speech to the other. (In fact, if you watch the video carefully, you can see that Williams was waiting in the aisle when the award was announced, and seemed to race to the stage with remarkable speed.)
In contrast to the Kanye West incident, which occurred only during the live TV broadcast, a backstage Oscar "thank-you cam" shows that Burkett was still pursuing Williams even after the televised fracas.
According to Salon.com, which wrangled separate phone interviews with both Williams and Burkett shortly after the incident, the two filmmakers have been in a dispute about the film for over a year.
Burkett, critically acclaimed author of several nonfiction books about subjects like the AIDS crisis and abuse in the Catholic Church, says the movie was her idea and that Williams "hadn't even heard of Zimbabwe before [she] told him about this." She also says the two clashed over the film's direction. Their argument resulted in a lawsuit that was "settled amicably out of court." Burkett also accuses Williams of not passing along invites to parties the two were invited to for the film, and even says that her race to the stage was intentionally impeded by Williams' mother's cane.
Williams disputes Burkett's account of the cane-tripping incident, saying his mother was just getting up to hug him. He also claims he was as much a part of the film as Burkett, citing the money he spent to fly to Zimbabwe to put the film together after Burkett told him about seeing Prudence perform. Calling the incident an "ambush," Williams said he had a speech prepared that he was unable to deliver. But he added that he's still happy about the award, saying "There are times when there's disagreement and dispute and you always hope that people will rise up to the occasion. It doesn't diminish it."
http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/blog/69-the-story-behind-the-oscars-weird-lady-kanye-momenthttp://www.facebook.com/YahooMovies
