Oscars NFT for Chadwick Boseman sparks controversy and backlash
nftjedi
The way to immortalize an artist, is to honor them with art.
I was tasked to create a tribute NFT for Chadwick Boseman for the Oscars! Bringing this piece to life has been one of my most challenging & rewarding experiences as an artist.
The 2021 Academy Awards did not go off without a hitch. The late Chadwick Boseman was favored to win the Best Actor Award. The program was even rearranged so the category was last in the TV production, perhaps anticipating the kind of emotional award that occurred at the Golden Globes, where his widow Taylor Simone Ledward accepted the Golden Globe.
However, the Oscar didn’t go to Boseman. It went to Anthony Hopkins, the 83 year old actor who last won the award for Silence of the Lambs.
Just as controversial, attendees of the Academy Awards received a gift bag with an NFT of Chadwick Boseman, created by Andrea Oshea.
The Academy will also auction off the NFT, with 50% of the proceeds going to fight colon cancer. Not sure what the other half will go to.
The NFT sparked immediate backlash and outrage on social media, as reported by USA Today. The snub for Best Actor, plus the commodification of Boseman in the same year of his passing, seems like a slap in the face.
