12 Wild Oscar Conspiracy Theories People Actually Believe

Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling for Columbine was showered with praise after its 2002 release, going on to win a special 55th Anniversary Prize at Cannes Film Festival and back then ranking as the USA’s highest-grossing documentary.

With all that success behind it, Bowling for Columbine quite naturally went on to be nominated for and won Best Documentary Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003. What was strange, however, was the reception Moore got when he delivered his acceptance speech.

Just a few days prior to the ceremony the US had invaded Iraq and the outspoken, liberal predictably Moore used his acceptance speech as a platform to condemn the invasion and the then president George W. Bush. Unpredictably, this was met with a chorus of boos which is rather odd considering Hollywood’s typically liberal stance on politics.

According to both an interview Moore gave after receiving the award and late film critic Joe Williams in his book Hollywood Myths, most present at the ceremony were actually applauding his speech and the jeers and catcalls actually came from backstage Oscar lackeys apparently in an attempt to disparage the documentary and were subsequently edited in when the ceremony was broadcast on TV.

Or it could be that the often preachy and smug Moore was starting to get on people’s t*ts a bit.