Is an Oscar win meaningless? Fans outraged as Academy Award voters admit to skipping movies

Did your favourite really deserve it? To be nominated for an Oscar is a career goal for many in the film industry, with a win meaning widespread notoriety and praise. However, the validity of the world’s most-watched awards show has come into question after Academy Awards voters have admitted to not fully watching all of the .

Every year, thousands of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences watch the nominated movies across 23 categories before casting their votes. The way the viewing process works is that the 9,905 eligible voters log into the Academy Screening Room and watch each nominated movie, before making their decision. But as reported by , Oscars voters have admitted to finding loopholes to avoid watching films they don’t want to.

“The app only needs to see that you watched it. It doesn’t know if you’re sitting there,” one confessed. Others have made similar egregious admissions, like leaving for work after pressing ‘play’, as well as putting films on mute.

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Voters have even admitted to making their verdict purely based on allegiances. “You think I’m voting against my own campaign?” one executive told Variety. “I’m voting for my stuff.”

In April 2025, the Academy Awards implemented a new rule to help counteract this problem. Now voters are required to watch every movie in each category and fill out a form verifying where and when they watched it.

But the Internet is in disbelief that this wasn’t already a thing. Commenting on X, one person wrote: “There are more than enough people who would actually take this job seriously. Some might even do it for free. Fire everyone with this mentality.”

An equally upset commenter said: "So they are not doing the job they are paid to do? Which contributes to some of the proudest/biggest moments of peoples lives when they win? Just winging it????? Fire these people??" Another added: “It’s frustrating to think the effort of so many creators can be diluted by people who don’t even bother to watch.”

Others brought up the fact that it means some Oscar-winners may not have truly deserved it. “That's sad for all the winners. They'll never know if they actually deserved it or not. It's just a popularity contest and what satisfied the current agenda,” one said.

“This single headedly completely invalidates the awards,” an infuriated commenter added. “Yea, we all knew it was bulls--t, but this officially confirms it. Absolutely disgraceful.”

Although, on the bright side, it has left some fans feeling vindicated over their favourite stars being snubbed. “This explains a lot, some of their choices of winners have been questionable,” one said.

Some have even tried to defend the voters – by blaming the nominated movies themselves. One said: “In their defense, who would want to watch all those lame boring things with the same ol' actor.”

This isn’t the first scandal that’s arisen over the Oscars votes. The Academy came under fire earlier this year, after some voters admitted to not watching Dune part 2 because they “couldn’t get through it.” Fans reacted similarly with calls for the voters to be replaced.

However, failing to watch all of the nominated movies isn’t just a modern phenomenon. In the past, watching all of the films has been a recommendation, not an actual requirement. As Variety reports, Oscars voters often relied on buzz and recommendations from friends to cast their judgement.