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Ben Thompson
Drew Barrymore has come to the defence of a young child star after she was nominated for a Razzie for 'Worst Actress'.
Barrymore spoke out against the Golden Raspberry Awards for its decision to nominate Ryan Kiera Armstrong, claiming that the nomination was a form of 'bullying'.
Twelve-year-old Armstrong was nominated for her role in Firestarter, a recent adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name.
The story follows a young girl called Charlie - played by Armstrong - who can create fires using her mind.
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The 2022 adaptation was met with mostly negative reviews upon release, leading to the controversial nomination, which was eventually rescinded due to the backlash.
Barrymore - who played the role in the 1984 adaptation - made it clear what she thought of the controversial nomination in a recent interview.
Speaking to CBS Mornings, the 47-year-old actor said: "I don’t like it.
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“She is younger and it is bullying. We do want to be cautious about how we speak to or about people because it encourages other people to join in on that bandwagon.
"I’m glad to see people didn’t jump on the ‘let’s make fun of her’ wave and instead said, ‘This isn’t right.’
"You got to have a sense of humor but when you’re talking about children all bets are off. I don’t like it."
Barrymore continued to slam the stunt on her talk-show The Drew Barrymore Show.
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"Well, this makes my blood boil," she said.
"Listen, I get poking fun at ourselves, I mean come on fair game bring it on, but Ryan is 12 years old and Razzie co-founder John Wilson has since apologized and removed her from the category and said they’re implementing a new rule precluding anyone 18 years or younger.
"I would just say to them, ‘Please don’t do this to people who are younger. That’s not nice'. And I really like Ryan… don’t do this again."
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In response to the criticism, the founder of the Razzie Awards, John Wilson, said: "Having learned from this lesson, we would also like to announce that, from this point forward, we are adopting a Voting Guideline precluding any performer or film-maker under 18 years of age from being considered for our awards."
The Golden Raspberry Awards are a tongue-in-cheek award show who gift Golden Razzies to the 'worst of cinematic under-achievements'.
Many stars have found themselves at the receiving end of a Razzie nomination, including Barrymore herself, who has received four for her appearances in Freddy Got Fingered, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Duplex and Blended.
Only a few stars have accepted a Razzie in person however.
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Halle Berry picked up a Golden Razzie for her appearance in the panned Catwoman film, while Sandra Bullock made an appearance at the ceremony in 2010.
Accepting the Worst Actress award for her role in All About Steve, Bullock said: "I didn't realize that, in Hollywood, all you had to do was say you'd show up, and then you'd get the award. If I'd known that, I would have said I was appearing at the Oscars a long time ago."
The next night, Bullock would win an Academy Award for her lead role in The Blind Side.