Featured Image Credit: ABC / LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Film and TV, Oscars, Academy Awards
Callum Jones
Topics: Film and TV, Oscars, Academy Awards
Angela Bassett has been praised for comforting Austin Butler just minutes after she was unsuccessful in her own category at the Oscars.
As it always does, the Oscars brought up loads of talking points on Sunday (12 March), from Jimmy Kimmel being labelled as a 'national disgrace' to Andrew Garfield becoming an Oscars meme for the second year running.
But one of the more wholesome parts of the Academy Awards this year was Bassett comforting Butler after he missed out on the Best Actor crown.
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This came just minutes after one of the biggest upsets of the night happened with Bassett - the red-hot favorite - who was beaten by Jamie Lee Curtis in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Bassett was nominated for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, while Curtis took the gong home for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
However, fans picked up on the fact that when Curtis was announced as the winner, fellow nominees Hong Chau, Kerry Condon and Stephanie Hsu applauded - but Bassett kept a very blank look on her face.
This did lead to some Oscars viewers criticizing Bassett, with one person on Twitter writing: "Everyone wants to win. However most won’t. That’s life. And sore loser is never a good look."
Meanwhile, a second added: "All you saying Angela Bassett should’ve won over Jamie lee… her reaction was poor sportsmanship."
However, she seemed to redeem herself shortly after as she was seen holding Butler's hand as the nominees for Best Actor were read aloud.
But like Bassett, Butler - who was nominated for Elvis - lost the Best Actor category to Brendan Fraser for his role in The Whale.
And while the attention did somewhat turn to Fraser and his emotional acceptance speech, where he gave a wholesome shoutout to his autistic son, many fans flocked to social media to praise Bassett.
Posting a GIF of the moment, one fan on Twitter wrote: "Angela Bassett holding Austin Butler’s hand while he’s nervous… is exactly the kind of woman I imagined she was."
Replying to the tweet, a second added: "Aww the way she squeezed his hand in encouragement at the end."
Meanwhile, a third on the social media app remarked: "It’s been a long road for her, too. And she sat there on the front row, was gracious, held Austin Butler’s hand while his category was up, and held herself like the regal queen she is."