Social Media Fumes as Chadwick Boseman ‘Robbed' of Posthumous Oscar

In a speech posted to Instagram Monday, Hopkins, who was not present at the ceremony, accepted his award while paying tribute to Boseman.

Well, so much for your Oscar pool.

If there was one sure bet going into Sunday night's Academy Awards it was that Chadwick Boseman would win a posthumous Oscar for his final performance in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." The hankies were already in your hands. The tears were prepared to flow freely when his widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf.

A win by Boseman, whose portrayal had already earned several posthumous honors throughout awards season, including a Critics’ Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award, seemed all but certain.

Instead, there was a twist ending and history of another sort was made. At age 83 Anthony Hopkins took home the award for his portrayal of an aging man who must deal with his progressing memory loss in "The Father."

In a speech posted to Instagram Monday, Hopkins, who was not present at the ceremony, accepted his award while paying tribute to Boseman.

"At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award. I really didn't," Hopkins said. "I'm very grateful to the Academy. Thank you. I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early. And again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored, thank you." 

For many long-time Oscar watchers, the very order of the show seemed contorted to pay tribute to Boseman, the expected winner. Instead of Best Picture, which is traditionally presented as the last award of the night, the Best Actor award was moved into the last slot. So instead of an emotional finish, the telecast simply ended abruptly with Hopkins not in attendance to accept his prize.

The result left many across social media cold.

"Wait what was that Game of Thrones style ending?? Andra Day and Chadwick Boseman were robbed," wrote MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid.

“CHADWICK BOSEMAN GOT SNUBBED. POSTHUMOUSLY?!” Grace Randolph, of “Beyond The Trailer,” tweeted with several outraged emojis. “I feel like... the entire goodwill of the evening just went down the tubes. He will now never win an Oscar, that’s horrible...”

But producer Franklin Leonard attempted to comfort others by telling them that Boseman would not be upset over losing.

"Honestly not even stressed about Chadwick not winning, because I know Chadwick wouldn't have been stressed about not winning," Leonard wrote. "He would, however, want us to go back to work tomorrow aiming unconscionably high in both art and humanity. So that's what Imma try to do."