After nominating 11-year-old ‘Firestarter’ star Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the Worst Actress category, Razzie co-founder John Wilson issued an apology statement and added that actors under 18 would not be considered for nominations any more.
The organisation, which nominates the worst in film annually, was criticised from film fans and former and current child artistes for bullying a young actor.
Razzie founder John shared, ‘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.’
He added, ‘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.’
John concluded his letter saying, ‘Since our motto is ‘Own Your Bad,’ we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it.’
The winners for their 43rd edition will be announced on 11 March, a day before the Oscars.
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