Razzie Awards organizers are listening and taking responsibility for 12-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong’s Worst Actress nomination.
The Razzies have decided to withdraw Armstrong’s nomination for her role in the widely acclaimed Stephen King adaptation Firestarter. The nomination put the annual celebration/roast of Hollywood’s most dodgy films at the center of a backlash that included criticism from some current and former child actors such as Devon Sawa and Julian Hilliard.
In response, raid organizer John Wilson (not this John Wilson) apologized and said: “Sometimes you do things without thinking, then you’re called to do it. Then you get it. That’s why the Razzies were created in the first place.”
Wilson acknowledged that Armstrong’s nomination was “insensitive” and called the criticism “valid.” There was also a direct apology to Armstrong, with Wilson saying, “[W]We regret any pain she has suffered as a result of our decisions.”
The backlash also appeared to prompt some self-reflection and reform, with Wilson saying the Razzie voting guidelines would now begin to “bar any performer or filmmaker under the age of 18 from being considered for our awards.”
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“We never intended to bury anyone’s career,” Wilson said. “That’s why our Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, including ourselves. Since our motto is “Own Your Bad”, we know that we have to live up to it ourselves.”
Some would probably argue that this change in voting guidelines is long overdue, considering numerous child actors have been nominated for Razzies over the years. Gary Coleman was nominated in 1982 at the age of 14, while Macaulay Culkin received the 1995 Worst Actor nomination for three films, Getting Even With Dad, The Pagemaster and Richie Rich (he lost to Kevin Costner for Wyatt Earp). Recently, Jake Lloyd, who portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, was nominated for Worst Actor at age 11. prompted him to quit acting.