Imagine you’re called up on stage to receive the honour of a lifetime – an Academy award – but instead of thanking everyone you know, you decide to take a stand.

To date, just three people have rejected an Oscar out of well over 2,000 winners.

So let’s start with them.

Dudley Nichols – 1935 Oscar for Best Screenplay

The first person to reject an Oscar was screenwriter Dudley Nichols, who won for Best Screenplay for the 1935 film, ‘The Informer’. Set during the Irish War Of Independence and adapted from the novel of the same name by Liam O’Flaherty, John Ford would go on to win Best Director with Nichols winning Best Screenplay.

Nichols refused to accept the Oscar and cited an ongoing writer’s strike in Hollywood as his reason.

George C. Scott – 1971 Oscar for Best Actor

Scott famously called the Oscars “a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons,” and sent a telegram to the Academy telling them that he’d be refusing the award.

Scott, who was noted for his utter distaste for the entire ceremony.

Marlon Brando – 1973 Oscar for Best Actor

In 1973, perhaps one of the most famous moments in Oscar history occurred. Marlon Brando, another heavy favourite to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ‘The Godfather’, was announced as the winner.

But Brando didn’t turn up to the Academy Awards – as an added gesture, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather in his stead.

Then there are the very rare instances where the Academy has revoked a nomination. 

Hondo (1953)

In 1954, the John Wayne western Hondo was nominated for Best Story. The film was later disqualified when it was discovered that the script was based on a short story called “The Gift of Cochise.” What a story.

Tuba Atlantic (2010)

Tuba Atlantic is a 25-minute Norwegian short film about a 70-year-old man who only has six days to live and spends that time reconciling with his estranged family.

It was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film in 2012, but the nomination was wa later revoted because the film appeared on TV before movie cinemas. And at the Oscars, film comes first.

13 Hours (2016)

In 2017, 13 Hours earned a single Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, with four members of the sound team (Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Mac Ruth, and Greg P. Russell) singled out for their work.

But just one day before the ceremony — the Academy announced that they were rescinding Russell’s nomination as a result of “telephone lobbying.”

Upon recommendation by the Sound Branch Executive Committee, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted to rescind the Sound Mixing nomination for Greg P. Russell from 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi for violation of Academy campaign regulations. The decision was prompted by the discovery that Russell had called his fellow members of the Sound Branch during the nominations phase to make them aware of his work on the film, in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying.

Academy awards statement

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