Veteran
actor-comedian
Billy
Crystal
has
said
that
he
found
the
2021
edition
of
the
Academy
Awards
to
be
"disappointing".
The
Oscars,
which
held
in
April
this
year
after
being
delayed
by
two
months
due
to
the
coronavirus
pandemic,
turned
out
to
be
a
dull
affair.
The
ceremony
ended
up
being
the
least-viewed
Academy
Awards
telecast
on
record
in
the
United
States.
Crystal,
who
previously
hosted
the
Oscars
nine
times,
was
asked
whether
he
would
emcee
the
ceremony
again
during
his
appearance
on
The
Jess
Cagle
Show.
The
actor,
however,
did
not
seem
too
enthused.
"One
of
the
last
times
I
hosted
the
show,
the
economy
was
just
in
shambles.
And
I
said,
'That’s
what
people
want
to
see:
millionaires
giving
each
other
gold
statues.'
It
made
no
sense...
It's
very
problematic," Crystal
said,
drawing
a
comparison
between
that
ceremony
and
the
most
recent
Academy
Awards.
Critically-acclaimed
features
Nomadland,
The
Father,
Judas
and
the
Black
Messiah,
Mank,
Minari,
Promising
Young
Woman,
Sound
of
Metal
and
The
Trial
of
the
Chicago
7
were
nominated
in
the
best
picture
category
this
year,
but
Crystal
believes
they
were
not
"audience-friendly".
"(They)
were
not
audience-friendly
in
a
way
—
beautiful
films;
they
needed
to
be
celebrated
more,"
the
73-year-old
actor
added.
All
in
all,
the
ceremony
lacked
entertainment,
Crystal
noted.
"You
have
to
give
(viewers)
some
entertainment,
and
there
wasn’t
any.
And
that
was
disappointing,"
he
said.