Four years on from its release fans still believe a major po-star should have been an Academy Award nominee
A critically acclaimed crime-comedy movie that fans believed was ‘robbed of Oscars’ is airing on TV tonight for free across the UK.
Released in 2019 and directed by Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers tells the true story about a group of New York strippers who begin to steal money by manipulating stock traders and CEOs who enter their club.
The stacked ensemble the film based on a famous New York magazine aticle, includes Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Lizzo, and Cardi B
Produed by Will Ferrell and his former director Adam McKay, Hustlers were a big hit when it opened, grossing over $157 million against a budget of just $20 million.
On top of this, the film boasts a strong score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, cementing it as one of the best reviewed films from a year that boasted Knives Out, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Uncut Gems.
Oscar exoerts were certain that J. Lo was set to land her first Oscar nomination, having been voted the best female performance at the presitgious Toronto International Film Festival, as well as placing in the New York Times’ 10 Best Actors of 2019.
While she was nominated in the supporting actress category at the Golden Globes, Indie Spirit Awards and at the Screen Actor Guild Awards, Lopez was nowhere to be seen among the nominations on Oscar morning..
The Academy instead opted to nominate Marriage Story’s Laura Dern, Richard Jewell’s Kathy Bates, Jojo Rabbit’s Scarlett Johansson, Little Women’s Florence Pugh and Bombshell’s Margot Robbie for the award, eventually won by Jurassic Park icon Dern.
Speaking to talk-show legend Oprah Winfrey about the shock Oscar snub, Lopez admitted that she felt like she ‘let everyone down a little bit’.
“I was a little sad because there was a lot of buildup to it. There were so many articles. I got so many good notices—more than ever in my career—and there was a lot of ‘She’s going to get nominated for an Oscar. It’s going to happen; if she doesn’t, you’re crazy’.
“I’m reading all the articles going, ‘Oh my God, could this happen?’ And then it didn’t and I was like, ‘Ouch’. It was a little bit of a letdown.’… I don’t need this award to tell me I’m enough.”
With this year’s Best Picture being won by Anora, another film focusing on the lives of strippers, and its star Mikey Madison winning Best Actress, many people took to X, previously known as Twitter, to re-express their sadness about Lopez’s snub.
@honeyhuuuu said: “Let’s wake it up again…. J.Lo should’ve definitely had an Oscar nomination for her role in hustlers. No shade to Anora, but if that could be nominated, why couldn’t J.Lo???” @folkloregirlyy added: “Can’t stop thinking the way Oscar’s rewarded Mikey for Anora and snubbed J. Lo for Hustlers.”
@timmylovesjlo wrote: “Randomly remembered when that anonymous Oscar voter said JLo’s performance in hustlers wasn’t Oscar worthy when she had the 2nd most nominations during awards season for that category.” @scarlettjullian stated: “Since we’re just awarding anyone now where is JLO’s oscar for hustlers
While @TheJLoHub pointed out: “After being snubbed in 2020 for her role in Hustlers, @JLo might finally get her recognition at the 2026 #OSCARs for Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
Hustlers is airing tonight (Saturday, March 8) at 11.15pm on Film4
