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HAD KENOUGH
Margot Robbie & Greta Gerwig ‘reeling’ over Barbie Oscars snub that stemmed from ‘jealousy’ & top stars ‘ignoring’ movie
A Hollywood insider revealed which A-list stars and past Oscar winners did not get behind Barbie
BARBIE power duo Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s Oscars snub was due to jealousy and top female stars refusing to back them, according to a Hollywood insider connected to the franchise.
Aussie actress Margot, 33, and director Greta, 40, are said to have been left reeling after they were passed over for nominations on Tuesday.
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The pair were expected to be in contention after the summer box-office smash became a darling of critics and grossed $1.4 billion.
Adding insult to injury, Margot’s male co-star Ryan Gosling got a Best Supporting Actor nod for his role as Ken among a total of eight nominations for the film, including Best Picture.
An insider laid out for The U.S. Sun how and why the politics of campaigning the coveted golden statuettes played against both women this Oscars season.
“You have to deal with the simple fact that when a movie makes a billion-plus dollars, people get jealous, even if those people themselves are rich, famous and good-looking movie stars," the source said.
"Margot and Greta had a good number of high-profile supporters, including Gal Gadot and Anne Hathaway, but the absentees are glaring especially when you think about the sheer number of big names they've both worked with over the years.
“There wasn't as deep a bench in support as there may have seemed when the movie was selling so many tickets over the summer.
"I think what you saw this year were a lot of past Oscar-winning actresses just ignore Barbie completely.
“Margot and Greta are paying a price here with their suddenly dominant status in the industry.
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“That can put a target on the back of your head, especially if important people feel left out.”
The U.S. Sun’s source cited Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, and Julia Roberts as examples of past Oscar winners who had not jumped on the Barbie train in any significant way.
Another two top-tier female Hollywood players who tiptoed around the highest grossing female-led movie of all time were The Morning Show co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
The source explained that Jen, 54, was instrumental in last year's controversial Oscar nomination of Andrea Riseborough for her little-seen work in the indie movie To Leslie.
The former Friends star called the film “beautiful” and backed a grassroots campaign alongside the likes of Charlize Theron, Edward Norton and Sarah Paulson in favor of Riseborough.
In contrast, Jen has been lukewarm in support of Barbie at best, the source said.
Asked to read a passage of America Ferrera’s feminist Barbie monologue on the red carpet at the Critics’ Choice Awards last week, Aniston grimaced and said, “Oh, don’t do that to me.”
She delivered the lines but appeared irritated, pushing the presenter’s card back at him afterwards and saying, “Gosh darn it.”
'NOT IMPRESSED'
The source said, “I think Jen is simply a lot more impressed with movies like Oppenheimer and Asteroid City than she was with Barbie this year.
“Even when prompted to read from the movie's famous monologue, it was plain to see how unimpressed she was with the material and how overhyped she thinks it is.
“She'll play along to a point, but isn't about to sacrifice her hard-won artistic integrity so that Greta or Margot can get Oscar nominations.
“To Jen, the most impressive thing about Barbie is probably the money it made.”
Meanwhile, it appears that Jen’s business partner and longtime pal Reese, 47, has also refused to jump on the Barbie bandwagon.
The insider believes it may be related to abandoned plans for her to star in a movie about Barbie creator Ruth Handler.
“It was certainly something Reese looked at back in 2015 before deciding not to get involved," the source said.
“It must have been a hard pill for her to swallow watching Margot make one of the biggest blockbusters of all time from something similar to a project Reese couldn't find the time to get around to.
“Reese is supposed to be a much better strategist than this, but Barbie has turned out to be a blind spot that cost her a fortune.”
The source added that Margot and Greta are still relative outsiders in Hollywood compared to the likes of Jen and Reese, who have been famous since the 1990s.
“Jen and Reese are much more plugged into the business and have deeper friend networks that, when activated, can turn the tide and create a groundswell," they said.
“But it has to be around a project they genuinely believe in and unfortunately, Barbie wasn't it."
The insider also pointed out that many of Margot and Greta's longtime colleagues in Hollywood found themselves otherwise occupied this awards season.
Margot’s two-time co-star Brad Pitt is busy with production on multiple upcoming high-stakes films.
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The high-powered duo who discovered her 10 years ago, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, have also been busy campaigning for their own Oscar contender, Killers of the Flower Moon.
And Greta's friend Adam Driver had his own Ferrari film angling for nominations in multiple acting categories.
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