Awards season campaigning is a notoriously competitive and fickle thing, a calculated mix of schmoozing at industry parties, charming audiences at late-night talk shows and being not too publicly thirsty to take home the gold (sorry, Bradley Cooper). And apparently one Icarian hero flew too close to the sun this year: Messi, the Border Collie breakout of France's exquisite courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, who will reportedly not be attending this year's Oscars after movie studio reps allegedly complained that he was hogging the spotlight from other nominees.
Like any big star of an Oscar-nominated picture, Messi—who plays resident pet, Snoop, in the Justine Triet-directed legal thriller, which follows the trial of a writer (played by Sandra Hüller) desperate to prove her innocence in her husband's death—Messi has made the requisite rounds in the weeks leading up to this Sunday's Academy Awards, culminating in the seven-year-old pup completely stealing the show at the Oscar's nominees luncheon last month.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, among the canine star's famous fans were Billie Eilish, Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling, who seemed as excited to encounter the movie dog at the luncheon as he was to meet legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg, based on a sweet video taken at the event.
But Messi will not be walking the red carpet come this Sunday's Oscars ceremony, as THR reported that multiple companies with nominated films had complained to the Academy about the pup's presence at the luncheon event, since he was not technically a nominee. The outlet also wrote that those naysayers also grumbled that Messi's sheer star power gave Anatomy of a Fall an unfair advantage during the Oscar voting period.
Of course, that all sounds, well, absolutely ridiculous, an absurdity that movie fans are commenting on over on social media:
- "Imagine being that threatened by a good boi." - @jenelleriley
- "The plot of Oceans 9 is the ladies of film twitter sneaking Messi into the Oscars and exposing the studios who conspired against him" - @kenzvanunu
- "Let Messi attend the Oscars, sit in the front row, and present Best Picture" - @mrbrianrowe
- "Season 3 of Feud with Oscar publicists vs Messi the dog please" - @peterknegt
- "If you complained about this, Messi should actually just go to the Oscars instead of you. Messi is perfect. Thank you so very much." - @Mjoseph492
If Uggie, the adorable Russell Terrier who starred opposite Jean Dujardin in The Artist, can join the rest of that cast onstage as they won their Best Picture in 2012, we don't see why Messi—a vital part of why Anatomy of a Fall is such a standout among the other 2024 Best Picture nominees—can't rub shoulders with other mega stars like Margot Robbie, Cillian Murphy and Da'Vine Joy Randolph at this year's Academy Awards ceremony.
Alas, we'll sadly have to have a Messi-free Oscars watch on Sunday, where Anatomy of a Fall is up for five trophies, including Best Picture, Best Director for Triet and Best Actress for Hüller. You can watch Messi's incredible doggie performance when the film becomes available to stream with a Hulu subscription beginning Friday, March 22.
