'Hurt Locker' Producer Nicolas Chartier |
HOLLYWOOD -- A producer of the Best Picture nominee "The Hurt Locker" will be on the outside, looking in, during the Academy Awards.
Nicolas Chartier will not be allowed to attend the Oscars because he sent e-mails to academy members, urging them to vote for his movie, "not a "$500 million film" -- a reference to best-picture contender "Avatar."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences say Chartier violated rules that prohibit mailings promoting a film by disparaging another, therefore he will not be allowed inside the Kodak Theatre this Sunday.
He has since apologized in another e-mail.
"My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it," Chartier wrote.
While Chartier cannot attend Sunday's ceremony, he would receive his Oscar later if "The Hurt Locker" wins Best Picture.
The academy stopped short of the harsher penalty of rescinding Chartier's nomination, which would have kept him from receiving an Oscar statuette if his film won.
Nicolas Chartier will not be allowed to attend the Oscars because he sent e-mails to academy members, urging them to vote for his movie, "not a "$500 million film" -- a reference to best-picture contender "Avatar."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences say Chartier violated rules that prohibit mailings promoting a film by disparaging another, therefore he will not be allowed inside the Kodak Theatre this Sunday.
He has since apologized in another e-mail.
"My naivete, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it," Chartier wrote.
While Chartier cannot attend Sunday's ceremony, he would receive his Oscar later if "The Hurt Locker" wins Best Picture.
The academy stopped short of the harsher penalty of rescinding Chartier's nomination, which would have kept him from receiving an Oscar statuette if his film won.
