By Canadian Press

Honorary Oscars event celebrating Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks pushed back amid Hollywood strikes

Sep 6, 2023 | 11:05 AM

Angela Bassett is going to have to wait a little bit longer to get her Oscar.

The 14th Governors Awards has been delayed from November until January, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday.

The Academy, which puts on the Oscars, decided to delay the event due to the state of the industry, in which Hollywood’s writers and actors are months into strikes for new contracts with major entertainment companies.

Bassett, who was up for the best supporting actress award earlier this year, was selected to receive the prestigious honorary Oscar statuette along with Mel Brooks and film editor Carol Littleton. The Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the event, which was originally scheduled to be held on Nov. 18, but will now be held on Jan. 9 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The honorary awards used to be handed out on the Oscars telecast but became its own separate event in 2009. At the untelevised dinner, industry friends and colleagues get to give longer, more personal speeches about the honorees before they accept their golden statuette. The event, held in the throes of Oscars season, also has often served as a de facto campaign stop for awards hopefuls, making it a reliably A-list affair.

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The Governors Awards is a union production and the Academy has been working with the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists as both guilds are deep into the strike with no end in sight. The strike has not only stopped most productions but also led some studios to delay fall their fall movies as opposed to releasing them without the help of actors.

The Governors Awards isn’t the only event to have been delayed because of the strikes. The Emmy Awards, previously scheduled for September, was postponed to Jan. 15, 2024.

And no one is entirely sure how the strikes will impact Oscars season, especially if a resolution is not reached before the new year. The 96th Academy Awards are currently scheduled to be held on March 10 and nominations will be announced on Jan. 23.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press