“Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father’s lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whomever made that list,” the actress wrote on Instagram.
Mira Sorvino is sharing her thoughts after her father — “Goodfellas” star Paul Sorvino — was left out of the 2023 Oscars In Memoriam tribute on Sunday night.
The actor — who passed away in July 2022 at the age of 83 — was one of the several stars missing from the segment. However, Paul — in addition to other late actors who were omitted from the broadcast — are mentioned on the In Memoriam page on the Academy’s website. During the on-air tribute, a QR code popped up on the screen that linked to the complete list online.
Although Paul was mentioned in the full online gallery, Mira was upset that her father was omitted from the broadcast.
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The morning after the Oscars on Monday, the actress slammed the Academy on social media, saying she was “incredibly hurt” and “shocked” to learn that her father was excluded from the on-air tribute.
“It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing brilliant departed actors were left out,” Mira tweeted, sharing a link to a USA Today article about her father’s omission. “The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!!”
Ahead of Sunday night’s ceremony, the 55-year-old shared a throwback video that featured the moment she won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for her performance in “Mighty Aphrodite,” and honored her late father in the post’s caption.
“On this Oscars night I am so happy for all of the nominees and the winners, but I am also moved in a thousand different ways when I think of the night I got to share my Academy Award with my Dad, the very great actor Paul Sorvino, who was never nominated,” Mira wrote. “To get to share this blindingly positive moment with my father…”
She added, “My first and best teacher, my beloved Daddy who came to all the school plays and loved from the bottom of his heart, the brilliant thespian whom all his colleagues revered as one of the greatest, to get to give back to him what he had been giving me all my life- love and belief and admiration and gratitude. On this first year after his passing it is truly a bittersweet but beautiful memory. I love you Dad, I miss you so much.”
Meanwhile, the “Romy and Michele’s High School” reunion star later updated her caption after he discovered her father was left out of the Oscars In Memoriam segment.
“****PS when I posted this I had not learned of Dad’s omission and that of several other incredible artists from the in Memoriam section,” Mira said. “Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father’s lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whomever made that list. We his adoring family, and you, his adoring public, know just how unique and incredible he was.”
“We hope @theacademy does something to put this right,” she added.
Meanwhile, Paul’s widow Dee Dee Sorvino also weighed in, expressing her disappointment over her late husband’s omission from the on-air tribute.
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“Paul Sorvino was one of the greatest actors in cinematic history in Hollywood. It is unconscionable that he would be left out of the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars,” Dee Dee shared in a statement, per People. “It’s a three-hour show, they can’t give a couple more minutes to get it right? Paul Sorvino gave decades to this industry and was loved by all.”
Dee Dee went on to urge the Academy to take accountability for their “mistake.”
“Paul was not the only deserving soul left out, and a QR Code is not acceptable,” she said. “The Academy needs to issue an apology, admit the mistake and do better. Paul Sorvino deserves better, the audience deserves better. Is the Academy so jaded they forget people who are loved, who have given their hearts to this industry?”
“Shame on the Academy if this is not corrected,” she added. “Mistakes are made, this was a big one. Please do something to make it right.”
Among the other stars excluded from the In Memoriam segment were Anne Heche, Tom Sizemore, Charlbi Dean, Leslie Jordan, Gilbert Gottfried, Kevin Conroy and Sacheen Littlefeather.
Many social media users subsequently slammed the Academy on Twitter, voicing their anger and disappointment over the omissions. (Click here to see how people reacted on Twitter.)
The Academy has yet to address or respond to the backlash.
