Oscars 2023: did Michelle Yeoh break campaigning rules after posting on Instagram?

While Oscars organisers have been busy ensuring the live event goes off without a hitch this weekend through the advent of a crisis team, perhaps the focus on that aspect has led to a second rule-break in the run-up to the star-studded affair. Michelle Yeoh has been the latest name to be accused of breaking Academy rules.

That's after talk that Andrea Riseborough had broken them too earlier this year.

In the case of Yeoh, who is up for the Best Actress award for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, she shared an excerpt from an article to her Instagram account, which subsequently was deleted shortly afterward.

However, the internet being the time capsule that it is, several social media users screenshot the ‘offending’ item, which discusses Yeoh’s rival for the award, two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.

The article suggested that Michelle Yeoh’s potential win this weekend would do more for diversity issues that have long dogged the awards since a lack of ‘black representation’ back in 2016 that led to several boycotts (including Jada Pinkett-Smith, eliciting the opening salvo from Chris Rock who was that year’s host). It insisted that Cate Blanchett winning her third Academy Award would not be as important as a performer of ethnicity to win it instead.

This post is said to have broken Rule 11 of the Academy’s Rules and Regulations, which pertains to References to Other Nominees. In official documentation from the Academy, section A states that “Ads, mailings, websites, social media (including Facebook and Twitter) or any other forms of public communication by anyone directly associated with an eligible film attempting to cast a negative or derogatory light on a competing film or achievement will not be tolerated”

Section B of Rule 11 also states that “In particular, any tactic that singles out “the competition” by name or title is expressly forbidden, which is the rule that many have claimed, rightfully, Yeoh had broken sharing her post. Whether this was an unintentional sharing of something positive leading into Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar nomination, or perhaps some dirty tactic from her team, has yet to be addressed.

But, unusually, the often pragmatic approach leading into the Oscar ceremony has been dogged by a second rule break. The first instance this Oscar season was based around the shock inclusion of Andrea Riseborough for the Best Actress award - one that many believed was lobbied by those who held private screenings of her film, To Leslie. In particular, Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, and Amy Adams were cited as holding private screenings and extolling the virtues of the film and its leading actress.

That however could have led to a breaking of either Rule 10, which states that “contacting Academy members directly and in a manner outside of the scope of these rules to promote a film or achievement for Academy Award consideration is expressly forbidden” or Rule 7b, that states “after nominations are announced, and until the final polls close, film companies are not permitted to invite members to attend any parties, dinners, lunches, or other non-screening events that promote nominated films.”

That Paltrow was one of a few that held private screenings for their friends, who without straining any thought we could assume are members of the Academy, would indicate another rule breach either for contacting members or a non-screening event that promoted To Leslie.

If many thought that the handling of the Will Smith situation was, for lack of a better term, a little light-handed compared to the rules leading into the event, you may be right. The Academy states that anyone found guilty of breaking their rules will face the ‘wrath’ of the Academy board. “The Board of Governors may take any corrective actions or assess any penalties, including disqualification, that in its discretion it deems necessary to protect the reputation and integrity of the awards process.

“Furthermore, any Academy member who has authorised, executed or otherwise enabled a campaign activity that is determined by the Board of Governors to have undermined the letter or spirit of these regulations may be subject to suspension of membership or expulsion from the Academy.”

So for any budding film industry readers who may find themselves in contention for an Academy Award, the easiest means of avoiding an unintentional rule break seems to be the adage “silence is golden.” Though when you’re up for one of cinema’s most prestigious awards, we can appreciate how excitement can make the mind undertake errors of judgement.