Jan 25, 2018

More Than 13,000 Sign Petition to Cancel Academy Award Nomination for Kobe Bryant's "Dear Basketball"

At least three animated films have been embroiled in sexual harassment/assault controversies at this year's Academy Awards, but only one has a candidate facing rape charges.

That short is Dear Basketball. The film is directed by legendary animator Glen Keane, but another nominee, executive producer/writer/star Kobe Bryant, is nominated. This means that if this short film wins an Oscar, both Keen and Bryant will win Oscars.

The news was not well received by many, and a petition was started on the community action site Care2 to have Bryant's nomination rescinded. Since its launch a few days ago, the petition has received over 13,000 signatures and the number is growing rapidly.

The petition is aimed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Academy Awards, and asks that "Kobe Bryant be rescinded from this nomination because he is a known rapist."

The sexual assault people are referring to occurred in 2003 when Bryant visited the Cordillera Spa and Resort in Edwards, Colorado. Here is a summary of the story as told by The Hollywood Reporter:

A 19-year-old female concierge brought Corby to her room. He asked her to show him around the hotel later. She did so. When he finished showing her around, he asked her to go into his room. She did so. She said there was flirting and consensual kissing. He began to touch her body and she tried to get away. He grabbed her by the neck and she feared for her life. He bent her over a chair and removed her panties. She asked him twice to stop, but he penetrated her anyway. After about five minutes, she left the scene. Her clothes were a mess. She was upset. Her panties and his shirt had blood on them. The blood matched her DNA.

She told her friend at the hotel about the incident and he gave her a ride home. She told her mother. The next day she went to the police. She was examined at the hospital, where a nurse documented bruises on her neck and a laceration on her vaginal wall. The nurse considered the lacerations evidence of rape. Charges were filed and the case took a predictable turn: a lawyer was hired, the defendant claimed the sex was consensual, the victim was portrayed by the defense as a psychotic slut who just wanted to be famous, another woman who said the same thing was done to her by the defendant refused to testify, seeing how the victim was slandered, The victim received a settlement and did not testify, and the criminal case was dropped.

Whether the Academy will take any action remains to be seen, but what is undeniable is that the Academy's shorts and animated feature divisions have proven to be indifferent to everything that has happened in the United States in recent months. In addition to Bryant, Disney-Pixar's John Lasseter is the executive producer of the nominated feature "Coco" and the short "Lou," creating a headache for Pixar employees trying to distance themselves from the studio's creative chief.

For now, the animation community as a whole seems to be treating the Bryant situation with caution. Perhaps Glen Keane, another nominee for Dear Basketball, is an iconic figure in Hollywood animation and a decent one at that. We published an article about Bryant's petition yesterday and removed it completely from our website today. (17]

At any rate, the last few months have shown that the "stick your head in the sand" approach no longer works when it comes to harassment and assault in Hollywood. Academy members seem to have no problem nominating a questionable man for an award, but the audience may have the final say.