After coming under fire for targeting Austrian with his Hitler joke, the host of the 85th annual Academy Awards tweets, 'Austria, we'll give you the Oscar if you take back Arnold (Schwarzenegger).'
- Jan 12, 2013
AceShowbiz - Seth MacFarlane didn't make a good first impression when he announced Oscar nominees for the upcoming Academy Awards. The "Family Guy" creator, who will host the 85th annual event on February 24, cracked a joke about Hitler, but it fell flat among the viewers.
The Hitler joke was made in relation to Best Picture nominee "Amour". "I read 'Amour' was co-produced by Austria and Germany," he said to his co-host Emma Stone. "The last time Austria and Germany co-produced something it was Hilter, but this was much better."
The "Ted" creator later tried to redeem himself on Twitter by making another joke that targeted Austrian. "Lotta flap over that Adolf joke. Look, Amour was a great film, so how about this: Austria, we'll give you the Oscar if you take back Arnold (Schwarzenegger)," he wrote.
For some, it wasn't just the Hitler joke but all of his jokes that failed. "In the less than 10 minutes it took to announce the nominees, MacFarlane managed to insult his co-presenter, belittle the achievements of several nominees, and make a Hitler joke," Forrest Wickman wrote on Slate.
Jessie David Fox also criticized the host on Vulture, "Diminishing an entire Hollywood profession doesn't work with the award show's earnestness, and it's also a pretty big boulder to throw at an event that exists to extol the genius of these very professions."
On Twitter, online reviewers also shared their thoughts. "There'd be less flap if jokes were funnier (That includes this one)," @kpsmartypants commented. "It's the #Oscars Seth. You need to be Bob Hope not Bob Saget," @kade6767 deadpanned.
The Oscar ceremony will be telecast live from the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. "Lincoln" leads the nomination list with a total of 12 nods, while "Amour" gets five along with "Django Unchained", "Skyfall" and "Zero Dark Thirty".
Oscar Promo Featuring Seth MacFarlane:
