Oscars' Drama: Academy Yanks Nomination at 11th Hour

If it's truly an honor just to be nominated for an Oscar, Greg P. Russell has been abruptly dishonored: The sound mixer was stripped of the nomination for his work on 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi on Saturday, just a day before the big show, reports USA Today. The trigger: Per the Academy, Russell called members of the Sound Branch "to make them aware of his work on the film, in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying;" the Academy says it made the decision "after careful consideration," and "takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything—no matter how well-intentioned—that may undermine the integrity of that process."

This was by no means Russell's first rodeo: He'd been nominated 16 times previously, but never won. Interestingly, the three other members of Russell's 13 Hours team will still be eligible. The other nominees for sound mixing are teams from Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. (More Oscars stories.)