‘No Ken Without Barbie’: Ryan Gosling Slams the Oscars for Nominating Him While Snubbing Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie

Ryan Gosling aired his profound disappointment that his Barbie co-star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig did not receive nominations for the 96th Annual Academy Awards.

The Oscars announced their nominees on Tuesday — with Barbie scoring eight Academy Award nods, including Best Picture. Gosling, who played Ken in the $1.4 billion-grossing blockbuster hit, was nominated for “Best Supporting Actor.” But Robbie, who played the titular character, was left out of the “Best Actress” category, just as Gerwig was for “Best Director.”

With the two snubs drawing intense criticism from film fans, Gosling released a statement expressing thanks for his nomination, but also condemnation for the Academy’s failure to recognize the women behind the cinematic phenomenon.

I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d being saying this, but I’m also incredibly honored and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.

But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally-celebrated film.

No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.

To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.

Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.

Having said that, I am so happy for America Ferrera and the other incredible artists who contributed their talents to making this such a groundbreaking film.

As Gosling mentioned, Ferrera recieved her own Oscar nomination for “Best Supporting Actress.” Ferrera shared her excitement about that during an interview with Variety, but joined Gosling in saying she was “incredibly disappointed” that Robbie and Gerwig weren’t nominated as well.