May 17, 2026 9:30am PT

The Oscars’ New Inclusion Rules Wouldn’t Disqualify Any Best Picture Nominee in History. So Why Is Elon Musk Melting Down Over ‘The Odyssey’?

Clayton Davis

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Clayton Davis

Senior Awards Editor

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The Oscars’ New Inclusion Rules Wouldn’t Disqualify Any Best Picture Nominee in History. So Why Is Elon Musk Melting Down Over ‘The Odyssey’?

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Andy Samberg answered this one for us back in 2020.

Here’s the short version (because we’ve gone over this). Every best picture winner in the Academy’s 98-year history — from the silent-era film “Wings” in 1929 through the most recent political action epic “One Battle After Another” this past March — clears the Academy’s Representation and Inclusion Standards. That also includes “Oppenheimer,” the film directed by Christopher Nolan, with whom Elon Musk had no problem until this past week. And Nolan’s upcoming adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” whenever the Academy gets a look at it, would also clear the inclusion standards, and it’s not because Lupita Nyong’o was cast as Helen of Troy.

The Oscars' New Inclusion Rules Wouldn't Disqualify Any Best Picture Nominee in History. So Why Is Elon Musk Melting Down Over 'The Odyssey'?