Oscars producers say show will 'respectfully acknowledge' Ukraine crisis
CNN
The Oscars will not shy away from acknowledging the ongoing war in Ukraine, according to the show's executive producer Will Packer.
"This is a really [momentous] time in humankind history, and we're very aware of that," Packer told reporters during a virtual press conference on Thursday. "And so you don't go into a show like this, I don't think, and not be aware of that and not find a way to respectfully acknowledge where we are and how fortunate we are to even be able to put on this show."
This year's Academy Awards will take place amid an increasingly devastating conflict following Russia's invasion of Ukraine roughly one month ago and more than two years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the latter of which Packer said has "felt like decades."
President Joe Biden on Sunday delivers his first commencement address of the 2024 season at Morehouse College, where the president may for the first time in months have to confront the angst that’s been percolating on college campuses nationwide toward his administration’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
Arab and Palestinian Americans left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday night frustrated they did not have a clear understanding of how the Biden administration might act upon their concerns as the Israel-Hamas war devastates the civilian population in Gaza, participants told CNN.