Hollywood Reporter Complains Oscars Weren’t Political Enough On ICE And Iran

The 2026 Oscars were not political enough for a senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter.

In a new editorial, writer Steven Zeitchik complained that Academy Awards attendees "didn’t care" enough about the war in Iran and ICE.

"Turn on the show oblivious to current events, and you’d never have guessed the U.S. just launched a war whose heat ratchets up by the day," Zeitchik wrote.

"You’d never suspect government agents have been snatching Americans on the streets for months. If that happened, surely we’d hear a passionate deriding of a foreign regime, or a broadside against U.S. government policy, or something. Not nothing."

Zeitchik seemed to prefer the tone of the Grammys, where various musicians wore "ICE out" pins and declared America "stolen land."

Michael B. Jordan and Donna Jordan attend the 98th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty Images)

To be clear, the Oscars did not ignore politics entirely. According to Zeitchik, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel saved the evening.

"One late-night host did flex the muscle. Jimmy Kimmel sidestepped these two major issues but mocked the vanity of a docu-chasing White House and the censoring ways of a TV mogul. He was on a lonely island. And not the good Andy Samberg kind," Zeitchik wrote.

Still, social commentary was already embedded in the event. The film "Sinners" received a record-setting 16 nominations, a decision undoubtedly in support of its central theme: white people are racist, evil, and must be destroyed.

Even so, it’s hard not to scoff at how out of touch Zeitchik’s criticism feels.

Viewers don’t tune into award shows to hear actors lecture them about political issues at home or abroad. The normalization of that behavior is a major reason events like the Oscars and Grammys have lost their cachet.

Shaming attendees for not turning the ceremony into a political platform only underscores the disconnect. It’s the same frustration seen in sports, where commentators complain when athletes don’t use their platform to push political messages, as if they have a moral obligation to do so.

And it raises an obvious question: if attendees had spoken out in favor of ICE or the war in Iran, would Zeitchik have been satisfied?

Of course not.

Zeitchik isn’t upset that Hollywood didn’t politicize the event. He’s angered that it didn’t politicize it with his preferred politics.

The Hollywood Reporter should be ashamed for running this piece.