Rachel Zegler Invited to Be a Presenter, After All
The 20-year-old star of the best picture nominee ‘West Side Story’ had previously expressed disappointment that she was not offered a ticket to attend Sunday’s ceremony.
After internet firestorm over the revelation that Rachel Zegler, the star of best picture nominee West Side Story, had not been invited to attend the 2022 Oscars on Sunday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the up-and-comer to be a presenter at the ceremony.
The 20-year-old Latina actress is in London shooting Disney’s live-action remake of Snow White.
Efforts are being undertaken to rearrange the film’s shooting schedule to enable Zegler to be at the Oscars.
On Sunday, Zegler posted a series of images on her personal Instagram account along with the caption “a quarter of the year well spent.” In the comments section, a user wrote: “Can’t wait to see what you’ll be wearing on Oscar night.” Zegler responded, writing: “i’m not invited so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel.”
In response to this posting, social media users erupted in outrage, as did notables from One Day at a Time co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett to the original West Side Story‘s Riff, Russ Tamblyn, with many remarking on the oddity of non-industry types like Tony Hawk and Shaun White having been asked to present on the show, but not the leading lady and public face of a best picture Oscar nominee.
Zegler was not personally nominated this year, so the Academy was under no obligation to invite her and Disney was under no obligation to allocate one of its tickets for her. (Each nominee and presenter is offered a pair of tickets, and each studio gets an allotment, though fewer tickets were distributed this year due to COVID-19 precautions.) But many thought both the organization and the studio should have made sure that the star of a best picture nominee was at the ceremony in one capacity or another.
Zegler said on Sunday: “my goodness, folks!! appreciate all the support, i really really do. we live in such unprecedented times, and a lot of work behind the scenes goes into making movie magic happen. that goes for film productions (like the one I am so lucky to be currently shooting in london) and shows alike. let’s all just respect the process and i’ll get off my phone.”
