Getty Image
The Academy of Arts and Sciences included a Chadwick Boseman NFT in their “Everyone Wins” swag bag by Distinctive Assets, and needless to say, movie fans from all walks of life were less than thrilled with the idea, especially following the shock of Boseman losing the Best Actor race to Anthony Hopkins. Boseman, who went into the night as the heavy betting favorite to take home the prize for Best Actor, passed away back in August following a private, four-year battle with colon cancer.
Now, while the NFT — which was part of the “Everyone Wins” swag bag that was given out during the Oscars — will auction off with proceeds going to the Colon Cancer Foundation, only HALf of the proceeds will be going to charity. According to artist Andrew Oshea, the NFT has a “buy now” price of $1.2 million. The auction began on rarible.com on Sunday night and will continue through Tuesday.
The way to immortalize an artist, is to honor them with art.
I was tasked to create a tribute NFT for Chadwick Boseman for the Oscars! Bringing this piece to life has been one of my most challenging & rewarding experiences as an artist.
Bidding on @rariblecom begins tomorrow pic.twitter.com/EYCJYWbtIZ
— andreoshea.eth | AI Animator (@andreoshea) April 24, 2021
Following the conclusion of the Oscars ceremony, which saw Anthony Hopkins take home the prize for Best Actor over Chadwick Boseman, enraged fans took to Twitter to express their disgust with the Academy turning Boseman into a piece of a gift bag without, at the very least, giving him a posthumous Academy Award.
RELATED: Furious Internet Left Stunned As Chadwick Boseman Loses Best Actor Race To Anthony Hopkins
Sooooooo lemme get this straight:
They rushed the 'in memoriam' section to get to Chadwick's face last
Changed the order of the winners to tease Chadwick winning last
and then at the end of the night everyone gets an NFT of Chadwick's head?
This all feels wrong.#Oscars
— Rendy (@rendy_jones) April 26, 2021
Creating a Chadwick Boseman NFT and not even giving him an posthumous Oscar is the best example of everything wrong today. https://t.co/HewV7sH9io
— Dylan Tucson (@DylanTucson) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/harrietnking/status/1386527214473293825
The Chadwick Boseman nft thing is so effing disrespectful can his estate sue that guy and the academy???
— fatima 🍉 (@visionwestwood) April 25, 2021
If there's ANYTHING we might get from the Chadwick Boseman nft being stuffed into Oscar gift bags is that I hope it teaches everyone just how ghoulish and obscene the entire practice is.
— psudonym (@psuedofolio) April 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/SwehlaTessa/status/1386519839657840641
The Chadwick Boseman NFT is basically this but it costs over a million dollars pic.twitter.com/vdZXiRJ996
— 🔪🔪🔪bЯyan🔪🔪🔪 (@murderxbryan) April 25, 2021
To try and defend the Hopkins victory for a second, though, it’s not as if the Best Actor race was the only surprise of the night, as Frances McDormand also upset Carey Mulligan in the Best Actress category. Still, regardless of whether he won Best Actor or not, something about giving away an NFT of his face in a “swag bag” just feels disgustingly hollow.
Subscribe and listen to our pop culture podcast, the Post-Credit Podcast, and follow us on Twitter @PostCredPod
(Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Anchor)