Anti-Trump Oscar nominees abound as ceremony looks to navigate fraught political scene
Some of the nominees vying for Oscars this year share a history of negative commentary about President Donald Trump, and the messages of some of the featured films could play a part in determining if the ceremony has a political bent.
Hosted by Conan O'Brien, this year's Oscars may be walking a "political tightrope," as one Politico report put it last week. Liberal Hollywood figures could be eager for anti-Trump commentary, but a new survey shows a plurality of even Californians think the entertainment industry has too much political influence.
According to the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research-POLITICO poll of Californians, 48% of respondents said Hollywood has too much influence on politics, while 47% said Hollywood is too liberal.
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Natalie Portman, who produced the Oscar-nominated animated feature "Arco," said at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in January, "What's going on in our country right now is absolutely horrific with what the federal government, Trump's government, Kristi Noem, ICE — what they are doing is really the worst of the worst of humanity."
Wunmi Mosaku was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie "Sinners," a horror movie about the Jim Crow south. At the Actor Awards in March, Mosaku wore an "ICE Out" pin on the red carpet and said, "I want ICE out. I don't believe in what this administration is inflicting on the people in this country, and I think it's atrocious."
She also said that she struggled to celebrate her Oscar nomination.
"I’ve not been able to celebrate because of what’s going on right now, with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota," Mosaku told The Times of London.
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Ethan Hawke, a staunch Democratic Party supporter who was nominated for Best Actor for his role in "Blue Moon," said in a January interview, "There's a kind of fear in the air that I've never felt before... And it's not America."
Hawke also said during a 2026 Sundance Film Festival interview, "It's entirely possible that Trump is doing us a great favor by teaching America what oligarchy means."
Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein" received nine nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. In a 2017 press conference, del Toro said the Trump era is a "cancer."
Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor for another politically charged movie "One Battle After Another," whose villain is a racist, nativist general targeting a group of hard-left revolutionaries. DiCaprio has a history of anti-Trump commentary, including endorsing Kamala Harris' failed 2024 presidential bid, and claiming the president was denying science when it comes to climate change.
"Today, the future livability of our planet was threatened by President Trump's careless decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement," DiCaprio wrote on Facebook.
Teyana Taylor, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "One Battle After Another," is yet another figure who could offer anti-Trump commentary.
In October 2017, Taylor was reportedly spotted wearing a chain that read, "F--- Donald Trump."
Comedian Bruce Vilanch, who has written for dozens of Academy Awards telecasts, told Politico he expected O’Brien to acknowledge the turbulence of the current Trump presidency but in a way that would take the seriousness out of it.
"My job is to always try and hit this very, very thin line between entertaining people and also acknowledging some of the realities," O’Brien said Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Fox News' Madison Colombo contributed to this report.