Hurt Locker Producer E-Mails Academy, Gets Banned From 2010 Oscar Ceremony

Looks like live musical performances won’t be the only thing missing from this year’s Oscars. Thanks to an e-mail Hurt Locker co-producer Nicolas Chartier sent to the Academy, the filmmaker was banned from Sunday night’s ceremony. Although campaigning for your own film is pretty standard practice, encouraging insiders to vote against a competitor is a definite no-no, and that was Chartier’s crime.

“You can tout your own film’s credentials, you can recommend it to other people, you can say vote for us in this category, but you can’t mention another film in comparison,” the L.A. Times’ John Horn said in an interview with NPR. Chartier, however, urged the Academy to consider The Hurt Locker over “the $500-million film”—an obvious reference to fellow Best Picture nominee, Avatar.

Although he’s called the move “plain stupid,” Chartier’s apology came too late to save his seat at the Kodak Theatre. His tickets have been revoked and he’s forbidden to attend as another ticketholder’s guest as well. And if The Hurt Locker nabs an Oscar? Chartier will be given his award at a later date.

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