When Angela Bassett learned she didn’t win at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday, she didn’t make a scene. There was no attack, there were no tears.
Instead, the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star slowly turned her head as the other nominees applauded winner Jamie Lee Curtis.
But some Twitter users felt her subtle reaction made her a “loser.”
“Bassett is a fantastic actress. Too bad she didn’t carry on acting tonight and she cheered when she won Jamie Lee”. wrote the Twitter user @SPisacreta. “Everyone wants to win. However, most will not. This is life. And the sore loser is never a good look.”
The “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star has Twitter divided over her reaction, with critics blasting her for her lack of “class” and fans defending her “heartbroken” moment.
As presenters Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose announced Curtis as the winner, nominees Hong Chau, Stephanie Hsu and Kerry Condon smiled and applauded. Basset he was visibly excited and apparently did not applaud.
“Regardless of who won that Oscar… Angela Bassett could have applauded the winner. Just sit there and not clap because you didn’t win… #noclass”, wrote a Twitter user.
Other Twitter user pointed out that “Jamie Lee Curtis applauded” when Bassett won the category at the Golden Globes in January and questioned why that was not reciprocated on Sunday.
Some Bassett fans had an answer.
“ANGELA is HUMAN! She seemed heartbroken, as she worked long and hard to get the best acting award. Angela has been known to be a personable and consummate professional. This seems to be her HUMAN moment.” a Twitter user wrote on Monday.
Bassett wasn’t being a “sore loser”, she was “not being fake and yelling and yelling that she was passed over once again”. another user tweeted on sunday. Bassett was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for What’s Love Got to Do with It in 1994, but she did not win. Holly Hunter took home the award for her work on “The Piano.”
A third Twitter user said that calling Bassett a sore loser was an overreaction.
“You’d think Angela Bassett got up and left the room the way people are berating her for being a ‘sore loser’.” the user wrote on Monday.
Journalist Shanelle Genai she said the backlash over Bassett’s reaction “proves ONCE AGAIN that the standards you place on black women are stupid and misogynistic as hell.”
another twitter fan he simply said monday, “Bassett and the words sore loser should not be used in the same sentence.”
A representative for Bassett did not immediately respond to The Times’s request for comment on Monday.
Heading into the Oscars, Bassett won Best Supporting Actress at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. At the Oscars, Bassett was the only black woman nominated for an acting award.
After Bassett failed to win, “Creed III” hosts and stars Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors recognized the star of “Black Panther”.
“Hello, aunt,” said Jordan, who starred with Bassett in “Black Panther.”
“We love you,” Majors added.
Later in the ceremony, Bassett showed her support for “Elvis” star Austin Butler, who was seated next to her. The Oscar contender in the leading actor category was holding hands with Bassett moments before presenters Halle Berry and Jessica Chastain announced “The Whale” star Brendan Fraser as the winner.
“Angela Bassett holding Austin Butler’s hand while he’s nervous… she’s exactly the kind of woman I imagined she would be.” tweeted social media strategist Nadine Babu.
