Three times when real events challenged The Oscars

Occasionally, though, world events have cast such a large shadow that they can’t be ignored. And while the Hollywood maxim is that the show must go on, in a few instances real-world concerns have intruded upon the ceremony in a way that forced organizers to alter its schedule, including last year’s delay due to a global pandemic.

The war in Ukraine has dominated news cycles and prompted statements of solidarity from members of the film and TV industry in the run-up to the Oscars. Through the years, politics and the Oscars have gone hand in hand, and war has frequently been part of the backdrop, from World War II — when the actual statuettes were made of plaster due to metal shortages — to Vietnam, a tumultuous period that on various occasions spilled into the broadcast.

Still, during the televised era three events particularly stand out: The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and the onset of the Iraq war in 2003.

In the first two instances, the awards were postponed briefly, and there was discussion of doing so in 2003. (The Oscars were delayed one other time because of flooding in 1938.)

A look back at each of those events, and the effect they had on the ceremony.

Contents

1968: The King assassination
1981: Reagan is shot

1968: The King assassination

The killing of the civil-rights icon on April 4 came days before the ceremony, with several of those slated to perform or appear — including Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong and Diahann Carroll — planning to attend King’s funeral on April 9, the day after the broadcast. (Poitier starred in two of that year’s best-picture nominees, “In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”)

Because there was no way for them to make it there in time, the Academy pushed back the ceremony from April 8 to April 10 and canceled its Governors Ball. The organization’s then-president, Gregory Peck, began the telecast by paying tribute to King.