Hollywood splits over Oprah Winfrey’s honorary Oscar

Hollywood splits over Oprah Winfrey’s honorary OscarLondon, August 5 : Hollywood is questioning the controversial decision to felicitate Oprah Winfrey with an honorary Oscar, despite her spending the lion's share of her career in television.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to give away a statuette to the chat show queen as the winner of the `Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award'.

The award, which is intended for an `individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry', is bestowed periodically only if there is a deserving candidate.

Previous winners have included Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, and crtitcs have slammed the move as Academy's attempt to bolster television ratings for its Oscars show by having Winfrey attend the event next February.

Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein criticized the decision calling it a `boneheaded move'.

"Winfrey has done good work in the world, but that's not enough to merit an Oscar," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

Nikki Finke, founder of the influential Hollywood news website Deadline, also voiced her wonder towards the decision calling it a `lousy choice', as Winfrey had spent `99 per cent' of her career on the small screen.

"Is the movie academy telling Hollywood that no one among the philanthropic film bigwigs deserved this award more than her this year?" she added. (ANI)