Angela Bassett Goes Viral for Reaction to Oscars Loss

Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis at the 2023 Oscars. (Credit: ABC)

After months of attending industry screenings, parties and awards season events to boost her profile among Oscars voters, Angela Bassett lost on Sunday night to Jamie Lee Curtis.

Bassett was nominated for her performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and made history as the first actor to pick up an Oscar nomination for a role in a Marvel movie.

While Bassett won the Golden Globe and the Critics Choice awards, Curtis took home the Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

As presenters Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur announced Curtis had won the Oscar as well, all five nominees were shown on screen.

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Curtis appeared stunned and could be seen saying, “Oh, shut up!”

Bassett and fellow nominee Kerry Condon were clearly disappointed, and some social media users called Bassett a “sore” loser for not applauding Curtis.

“Angela looks bitter,” one person tweeted.

“So glad Angela didn’t win after seeing how sore she was. She didn’t even bother to clap. Nobody like that deserves to win, period,” another person tweeted.

“Angela Bassett didn’t look happy, she didn’t clap or stand up,” someone else wrote.

“Not a good look for Angela Bassett. I love her but this was one of the worst moments by any actor in years. Way to be gracious. Not,” another person wrote on Twitter.

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Others said they sympathized with Bassett, especially since she lost three decades earlier in the lead actress category for her role in the 1993 film What’s Love Got to Do with It.

“Angela Bassett was robbed yet again no surprise,” one fan tweeted.

“Angela Bassett deserved this!!!” another fan tweeted.

“Angela, don’t be mad- they don’t give awards to comic book movies,” someone else tweeted.

“But Angela Bassett did the Thing!” someone else wrote on Twitter.

Later during the Oscars ceremony, Creed III stars Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors presented an award and gave Bassett a shoutout.

“Hey Auntie,” Jordan affectionately said to his Black Panther co-star who was seated in the front row. “We love you,” Majors added.