Ryan Gosling Says He’s “Disappointed” About Greta Gerwig & Margot Robbie’s Oscar Snubs

The Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, and the usual commentary about snubs spread like wildfire as always happens. Who people think should have been nominated, who was nominated and people think didn’t deserve it. This year, however, Ryan Gosling had something to say. Which is, in and of itself, a true rarity for the famously private actor. After he was nominated for his role as Ken in Barbie, he responded with a formal statement. And made it clear that he was not happy about the fact that Margot Robbie or Greta Gerwig were not nominated.

Barbie was nominated for a total of eight Oscars this year, with America Ferrera getting a Best Supporting Actress nod alongside Gosling. Unfortunately Gerwig, the director of the film as well as the co-writer along with her husband Noah Baumbach, was not nominated. Nor was the literal Barbie in Barbie, Margot Robbie. Which many people found to be a shocking oversight considering the film’s theme of female empowerment, Ryan Gosling included.

“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films,” Gosling shared in a statement on Tuesday. “And I never thought I’d being saying this, but I’m also incredibly honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.”

He went on to point out, “But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.”

Barbie was nominated for Best Picture, which The New York Times notes all members of the academy are welcome to vote on, but the directors’ branch are the only ones to choose for Best Director. This branch has 587 members, only a quarter of which are female. Gerwig was nominated by the Golden Globes and the Directors’ Guild for Best Director, but not an Oscar.

The actor, whose song “I’m Just Ken” was also nominated for an Oscar, went on “to say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement. Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.”

America Ferrera also reacted to the news that neither Gerwig nor Robbie were nominated for their work in Barbie. “I was incredibly disappointed that they weren’t nominated,” she told Variety. “Greta has done just about everything that a director could do to deserve it,” Ferrera said. “Creating this world, and taking something that didn’t have inherent value to most people and making it a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing to not see her on that list.”

Neither Robbie nor Gerwig have issued a statement about their lack of Oscar nominations, but perhaps they don’t need to. Ken has their backs.