The Razzie Awards have removed a 12-year-old girl from the Worst Actress category after social media users slammed the organization for publicly shaming her.
On Monday, the Razzies announced their 2022 nominations worst acting movies and shows.
Some of those who received the dubious honor included Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton and Penelope Cruz, as well as teen actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong, star of the critically acclaimed remake of “Firestarter.”
Although the film currently holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, many people believed that Armstrong’s nomination was, in the words of one tweeter, “Melodious and classless.”
On Wednesday, Razzie Awards co-founder John Wilson released a statement apologizing for Armstrong’s nomination:
“Sometimes you do things without thinking and then you get called out for it. Then you understood. That’s why the Razzies were created in the first place.
The recent valid criticism of the selection of 11-year-old Armstrong as a candidate for one of our awards brought home to us how insensitive we have been in this regard.
As a result, we have removed Armstrong’s name from the final ballot that our members will vote on next month. We also believe that Ms. Armstrong is owed a public apology and want to say that we regret any harm she has suffered as a result of our choices.”
Although the Razzie Awards have previously nominated young performers like Brooke Shields, a teenager in 1981, and Jake Lloyd, 8, who played Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” in 2000, Wilson said that’s not the case. again.
“Having learned from this lesson, we would also like to announce that from this point forward we are adopting a voting guideline that prevents any actor or director under the age of 18 from being considered for our awards.
“We never intended to bury anyone’s career. This is why the Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, including us.”
Wilson added that the organization’s motto is “Own Your Bad” and we realized “we have to live up to it”.
The 43rd Razzie Awards will be announced on March 11.
