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Denzel Washington Lost Best Actor to Kevin Spacey and Stopped Voting for Oscars: ‘They Don’t Care About Me? I Don’t Care. I Gave Up. I Got Bitter.’

Denzel Washington stopped voting for the Academy Awards after he lost the best actor Oscar to Kevin Spacey: "I got bitter."

Denzel Washingtonrevealed to Esquire magazine as part of a new cover story that he got bitter after losing the best actor Oscar to Kevin Spacey in 2000. He was previously nominated in the category for playing the title role in Spike Lee’s “Malcom X,” but the Oscar went to Al Pacino for “Scent of a Woman” instead. Two years after losing best actor, Washington would finally win his first Academy Award for best actor thanks to “Training Day.” His victory made him only the was the second African-American performer to win the category, following Sidney Poitier for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field.” Washington has since gone on to earn four more Oscar nominations, most recently in 2022 for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” He’s now back in the Oscar race in the supporting category field for “Gladiator 2.”

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