Angela Bassett has to wait a little longer for her Oscar.
The 14th annual Governors Awards have been postponed from November to January, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.
The Academy, which organizes the Oscars, has decided to postpone the gala due to the situation in the industry, in which Hollywood screenwriters and actors have been on strike for months to win new contracts with major entertainment companies.
Bassett, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress earlier this year, was selected alongside Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton to receive the prestigious honorary statuette. Michelle Satter of the Sundance Institute will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the event, originally scheduled for November 18th but now taking place on January 9th at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Previously, the honorary awards were presented as part of the televised Oscars broadcast, but in 2009 it became a separate awards ceremony. They are awarded at a non-televised dinner where friends and industry colleagues can give longer, more personal speeches about the honorees before accepting the gold statuette. The event, which comes in the middle of premiere season for potential Oscar contenders, has also often served as a campaign stop for awards contenders, making it a top event.
The Governors Awards are a union production and the Academy is working with the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) while both unions are engaged in an ongoing strike with no end in sight view is. The strike not only halted most productions, but also caused some studios to delay their fall releases to avoid launching them without the help of actors.
The Governors’ Awards aren’t the only event disrupted by strikes. The Emmy Awards, originally scheduled for September, have been postponed to January 15, 2024.
And no one is entirely sure how the strikes will impact Oscar season, especially if a solution isn’t found before next year. The 96th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 10 and nominations will be announced on January 23.
