The Oscars 2023 is finally here and celebrities are seizing the opportunity to use their platforms to shine a light on the Russia-Ukraine war.
On Sunday night several actors were photographed wearing blue ribbons and buttons in support of Ukraine and refugees. On the loop of the ribbon reads the hashtag '#withrefugees'. The United Nations Refugee Agency gave celebrities the ribbons to wear before and during the 95th Academy Awards.
Cate Blanchett was one of the first stars to be seen wearing the ribbon on her matching blue gown, with fellow nominated actor Bill Nighy also sporting the ribbon on his black tux jacket.
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This year's ribbon wearing follows last year's awards where Jamie Lee Curtis wore the ribbon as a ring and Jason Momoa was seen wearing a pocket square featuring the colours of the Ukrainian flag, while Benedict Cumberbatch wore a pin of the Ukrainian flag.
Anadil Hossain, Principal Communications Advisor for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told ShowBiz411 of the ribbons at last year's awards: 'This year's Oscar-nominated films include some powerful stories centred on the themes of refugees, displacement, home and belonging – Encanto, Flee, Three Songs for Benazir, Belfast, and Dune – at a time when the world is witnessing the largest refugee crisis since WW2.
'Artists have been wanting to show their solidarity for Ukraine, and we wanted to ask them to extend this support to the almost 84million people forced to flee. Whenever. Wherever.'
In 2017 several celebrities including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Karlie Kloss, and Emma Stone showed their support for American Civil Liberties Union, by wearing a blue ribbon in support of the organisation at the 89th Academy Awards. When asked about the ribbon by People on the night, actor Ruth Negga lauded the ACLU for fight the ‘basic love of human rights’.
During the 2022 Oscars a statement from the Academy was shown on screen which read: 'While film is an important avenue for us to express out humanity in times of conflict, the reality is millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water, and emergency services. Resources are scarce, and we - collectively as a global community - can do more.'
The statement ended by encouraging viewers to support Ukraine 'in any way'.
Last year, ahead of the Oscars 2022, Academy Award winner Sean Penn – who had been in Ukraine and Poland making a documentary about refugees’ struggles – said that he would publicly melt down his Oscar statuettes if the awards body refused to offer the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a platform at the ceremony.
‘There is nothing greater that the Academy Awards could do than to give [Zelenskiy] an opportunity to talk to all of us,’ Penn told CNN. ‘It is my understanding that a decision has been made not to do it. That is not me commenting on whether or not President Zelenskiy had wanted to.’
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