Oscars executive responds to Dharmendra, Eric Dane omission In Memoriam: 'We’re losing legendary people every year'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Oscars executive responds to Dharmendra, Eric Dane omission In Memoriam: 'We’re losing legendary people every year'")
Oscars executive responds to Dharmendra, Eric Dane omission In Memoriam Photograph: (X)
The 2026 Oscars faced backlash from the viewers for the omission of several film personalities from the In Memoriam segment. Recently, broadcast executive Rob Mills addressed the buzz.
The 98th Academy Awards, held on March 15, celebrated several artists for their powerful performances, but the ceremony held in Los Angeles also faced criticism surrounding the In Memoriam segment, as multiple notable names, including Dharmendra, were missing from the tribute, meant to honour film personalities who passed away over the past year.
What's the controversy?
The 2026 Oscars faced backlash after the viewers noticed that several popular figures were missing from the tribute. While the In Memoriam segment during the live broadcast featured Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, filmmaker Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, and some other well-known figures from the world of cinema, netizens were unhappy with the omission of Brigitte Bardot, Eric Dane, Bud Cort, James Van Der Beek, cinematographer David Keighley, and Indian actor Dharmendra.
Earlier, Sholey actor's wife Hema Malini has reacted to his matter, calling the omission "a shame."
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The Oscars executive reacts
As the controversy intensified, broadcast executive Rob Mills, who takes care of the Oscars telecast for Walt Disney Television, reacted to the issue and defended the segment. "I think it’s the hardest thing they possibly do. It always is hard when they are sort of villainised for this. Yes, there’s always people who are left out," he told Variety. "Unfortunately, we’re losing more and more people, and especially, we’re losing legendary people every year, so it is probably the hardest needle to thread. I do think what they did last night might have been the best In Memoriam in the history of the Oscars."
Speaking about the execution of the segment, Mills said, "Robert Redford passed away before, and then when Diane Keaton passed away, and those are two monumental legends - this is in the fall." he added.
"Now, the advantage we had too with the show was the producers were in place before last year’s show … so you can start planning for that now. When you lose people like that … the In Memoriam really needs to be really, really done — these are legendary names for losing."
He also opened up about the tragic death of Rob Reiner. "And then obviously the tragedy with Rob and Michelle Reiner was just awful. When that happened, I think that’s when they started to really think about, ‘Okay, how is this going to take shape? What are we going to do?’... It’s a big task that I think [Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan] met the moment beautifully," he said.
The annual ceremony was hosted by Conan O'Brien, and One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, dominated the night with six awards.
