#Critics rail on ‘woke’ Academy Awards broadcast

Critics from across the political spectrum, from Fox News’ Sean Hannity to late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel, slammed the Academy Awards by pointing out how the constant lecturing by Hollywood celebrities, sports stars and “other woke social justice warriors” about their political beliefs makes them unbearable to watch.

“Americans are fed up with being talked down to, having their values ridiculed, mocked and being lectured to. Elites in Hollywood, famous professional athletes, other woke social justice warriors, now constantly ramming their political beliefs into every single aspect of your life,” Hannity said on his show Monday night.

“Movies, sitcoms, pro sports, the left’s holier-than-thou ideology, it’s now inescapable. America’s favorite pastimes the NFL, the NBA, MLB, all sports that when you think about it, bring people of all races, all backgrounds, all religions, all political points of view, strangers, high-fiving each other, celebrating, commiserating together based on the love and built around the love of a shared passion” over their sport and their team, he said.

“Now even sports are being used as a divisive platform for far-left talking points. And Americans now are tuning out in droves,” Hannity continued.

His comments were consistent with those from Kelly, a former Fox News host who now has a podcast, about the dismal show​ and its ratings nosedive.​

“How’s all that incessant, insufferable woke, depressing lecturing via film, interviews, social media & at the actual, awful awards show going, Hollywood? Oscars Ratings Plummet by 58 Percent in overall, down 64% in younger audience​,” she wrote in a tweet.​​

A paltry 9.85 million viewers watched ABC’s Oscar broadcast Sunday night, down 60 percent from last year’s show. 

​It was also the first time that fewer than 10 million people tuned in. 

Kimmel, who hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018, quipped, “How can something so woke put so many people to sleep?”

“Speaking of elaborate funerals, did you watch the Oscars last night? Not many people did. The ratings for the oscars plummeted from 23 million last year to less than 10 million this year,” he said during the monologue on his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night.

“For whatever reason, the awards were held at Union Station in downtown, which is the closest many of these stars have ever been to public transportation. And they tried to mix it up. They really did. This was the year that finally answered the question: What happens when you don’t cut off the acceptance speeches. Turns out they go on for a very long time,” Kimmel said.

​Hannity said people tune in to television shows or watch an athletic event “to break away from the normal everyday stress of life, the rancor, the politics, the riots here, the riots there, the riots everywhere.​”​​

But he said sports stars like Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the national anthem in 2016, and LeBron James have alienated viewers. ​

“Last season’s NBA ratings were the lowest in history. The politically charged finals featuring a very woke LeBron James averaged only 7.5 million viewers. That is a 50 percent decline over the previous year. The final game of the series last year garnered only 5.6 million viewers. That’s it. That’s an all-time low,” he said. 

“Americans are fed up. They’re sick and tired of the ignorant lectures from this country’s pious celebrities,” Hannity continued.​

“Remember the NFL also had their serious dip in ratings when backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to turn the game into one big political protest against the US,​” he said.​ “And then there are the Academy Awards,” Hannity said, noting that 55 million people watched the show in 1998.

​”Now that the awards have turned into one big far-left protest where self-obsessed celebrities berate the American people and tell them how to think, well, now the viewership has completely bottomed out. Last night’s numbers, historic lows. I mean, really, really bad. Last night under 10 million viewers tuned in. That’s 58 percent less than just last year, a whopping 77 percent less than 2014,” he said. 

​​Regina King, the host of Sunday’s show, ​kicked off the night by talking about former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction in the death of George Floyd.

“If things had gone differently in Minneapolis, I would have been trading in my heels for marching boots,” King said.

“As a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many live with,” said King, mom to 25-year-old son Ian Alexander Jr. “And no amount of fame or fortune changes that.”

Tyler Perry, who received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, said Americans should “refuse hate.”

“Don’t hate anybody. I refuse to hate someone because they’re Mexican or because they are black or white, or LGBTQ. I refuse to hate someone because they’re a police officer. I refuse to hate someone because they are Asian. I would hope that we would refuse hate,” the producer, actor and writer said.