The Razzie Award nominations were announced earlier this week, and while the annual "celebration" of the worst cinema has to offer received the usual amount of backlash, it was one nom in particular that really caused an uproar online.
12-year-old Firestarter star Ryan Kiera Armstrong was nominated for "Worst Actress" for her performance in the much-maligned Stephen King adaptation, and the decision to single out such a young performer was met with widespread condemnation and accusations of bullying.
Razzies founder John Wilson has now issued an apology (via Variety), rescinding Armstrong's nomination and stating that, going forward, no one under the age of 18 will be eligible to be nominated.
"Sometimes, you do things without thinking. Then you are called out for it," Wilson wrote in a statement. "Then you get it. It's why the Razzies were created in the first place. The recent valid criticism of the choice of 11-year-old Armstrong as a nominee for one of our awards brought our attention to how insensitive we've been in this instance. As a result, we have removed Armstrong's name from the Final Ballot that our members will cast next month. We also believe a public apology is owed Ms. Armstrong, and wish to say we regret any hurt she experienced as a result of our choices."
The Razzies began back in 1981, and the Oscars parody show was seen as a bit of harmless fun for many years (Halle Barry even showed up to collect her Worst Actress award for Catwoman), but it's easy to understand why this particular nomination was met with such a negative reaction.
Though Armstrong's name has now been removed from the Worst Actress ballot, Firestarter remains nominated for Worst Remake/Rip-off/Sequel.
What do you guys make of the Razzie Awards? Is it time to call it a day, or are people being too sensitive? Be sure to drop us a comment down below.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.