OlderRazzies Apologize for Nominating Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Announce Change to Nomination Policy
The Razzie Awards are apologizing after nominating young actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong for “Worst Actress.”
The annual awards celebrate the “worst” of the past year, and this year’s nomination for Ryan drew a lot of backlash due to her age.
Ryan was just 11 years old when she filmed her movie Firestarter with Zac Efron, and when it came out in early 2022.
Many on social media called out the Razzies for nominating a child and putting her at risk of online bullying and more.
Keep reading for more…
Get to know 10 Fun Facts about Ryan Kiera Armstrong here!
The co-founder has since responded to the backlash, accepting fault and that saying it wasn’t meant to be taken as “mean.”
Now, the Razzies have issued a public apology to Ryan, and they have announced some new nomination policy changes so this doesn’t happen again. See what the co-founder had to say below…
Fellow child star Julian Hilliard, who has been seen in WandaVision and more, was one of those who spoke out against the nomination.
“The razzies are already mean-spirited & classless, but to nominate a kid is just repulsive & wrong. Why put a kid at risk of increased bullying or worse? Be better,” he wrote on Twitter.
He then celebrated the latest apology and policy change.
“Yes!” he said. “Never should have happened. Hopefully, she’s seen all the love & wonderful comments about her too. Can’t wait to see what she does in the future!”
Check out the full statement from Razzies co-founder John Wilson…
Sometimes, you do things without thinking, Then you are called out for it. Then you get it. It’s why the Razzies were created in the first place.
The recent valid criticism of the choice of 11 year old Armstrong as a nominee for one of our awards brought our attention to how insensitive we’ve been in this instance. As a result, we have removed Armstrong’s name from the Final Ballot that our members will cast next month. We also believe a public apology is owed Ms. Armstrong, and wish to say we regret any hurt she experienced as a result of our choices.
Having learned from this lesson, we would also like to announce that, from this point forward, we are adopting a Voting Guideline precluding any performer or film-maker under 18 years of age from being considered for our awards.
We have never intended to bury anyone’s career. It is why our Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, very much us included.
Since our motto is “Own Your Bad,” we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it.
Sincerely,
John Wilson, The Razzie Awards
