| Golden Raspberry Award | |
|---|---|
| Current:45th Golden Raspberry Awards | |
 The Golden Raspberry Award statuette | |
| Awarded for | Worst in film |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Golden Raspberry Award Foundation |
| First award | March 31, 1981; 44 years ago (1981-03-31) |
| Website | www |
TheGolden Raspberry Awards (also known as theRazzies andRazzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded byUCLA film graduates and film industry veteransJohn J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzie Awards' satirical annual ceremony is predated by its progenitor, theAcademy Awards, by five decades. The termraspberry is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". The statuette is a golf ball-sized raspberry atop aSuper 8mm film reel atop a 35-millimeter film core with brown wood shelf paper glued and wrapped around it—sitting atop a jar lid spray-painted gold. The Golden Raspberry Foundation has claimed that the award "encourages well-known filmmakers and top-notch performers to own their bad."
Thefirst Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony was held on March 31, 1981, in John J. B. Wilson's living-room alcove in Hollywood, to honor the perceived worst films of the1980 film season.Sylvester Stallone has the most Razzies, with 12.
AmericanpublicistJohn J. B. Wilson went to see a 99-cent double feature ofCan't Stop the Music andXanadu and thought on his drive home that those movies deserved awards for their low quality, and subsequently started thinking of all the other films that disappointed him in 1980, particularly as he had watched hundreds of productions in his job making trailers.[1][2] The following year during apotluck party held at his home in Hollywood on the night of the53rd Academy Awards,[3] Wilson passed ballots regarding the worst in film to the attendees, and invited his friends to give random award presentations in his living room.[3][4][1] Wilson stood at alectern made of cardboard in a tacky tuxedo, with a foam ball attached to a broomstick as a fake microphone, and announcedCan't Stop the Music as the firstGolden Raspberry Award Winner for Worst Picture.[1][5] The impromptu ceremony was a success and the following week a press release about his event was picked up by a few local newspapers, including a mention in theLos Angeles Daily News with the headline: "Take These Envelopes, Please".[3][4][5]
Approximately three dozen people came to the1st Golden Raspberry Awards.[5] The2nd Golden Raspberry Awards had double the attendance, and the3rd awards ceremony had doubled that number.[5] By the4th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony,CNN and two major wire services covered the event.[3] Wilson realized that by scheduling the Golden Raspberry Awards prior to the Academy Awards, the ceremony would get more press coverage: "We finally figured out you couldn't compete with the Oscars on Oscar night, but if you went the night before, when the press from all over the world are here and they are looking for something to do, it could well catch on," he said toBBC News.[3]
In 2022, a dedicated award category, Worst Bruce Willis Performance in a 2021 Movie, was created afterBruce Willis starred in a number of poorly received low-budget films. On March 30 of that year, Willis's family announced that he had been diagnosed withaphasia.[6] The Golden Raspberry Awards subsequently retracted the award category, saying it was inappropriate to award a Golden Raspberry to someone whose performance was affected by a medical condition.[7] At the same time, the Awards retroactively retracted their 1980 Worst Actress nomination ofShelley Duvall inThe Shining, stating "We have since discovered that Duvall's performance was impacted byStanley Kubrick's treatment of her throughout the production".[8] In 2023, following backlash for nominating 12-year-oldRyan Kiera Armstrong for Worst Actress, the Golden Raspberry Awards rescinded the nomination and said individuals under age 18 would no longer be nominated.[9] The Razzies themselves later won the category for the blunder.[10]
Members of the Golden Raspberry Award Organization pay for membership, and number 650 from 19 countries.[11][12] The ceremonies have generally been scheduled with both nominations and awards revealed in the day before the Academy Awards with only two exceptions; the32nd Golden Raspberry Awards had the nominees announced the day before the Academy Award nominees but the ceremony took place on April 1,[13] and the milestone40th Golden Raspberry Awards, the ceremonies of which were cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic with the winners revealed online.[14][15]
Paul Verhoeven was the first person to go to the ceremony in 1996 to receive his award in the category Worst Director for the movieShowgirls. Other recipients who have accepted their Golden Raspberry Award includeBill Cosby, who became the first to accept a Razzie award, but which was presented to him inThe Late Show in 1988 for his work onLeonard Part 6 (Worst Picture/Worst Screenplay/Worst Actor),Tom Green (Worst Actor/Worst Director),Halle Berry[16][17] andSandra Bullock (Worst Actress),Michael Ferris andJ. D. Shapiro (Worst Screenplay),Alan Menken (Worst Original Song),Dinesh D'Souza (Worst Director), andFifty Shades of Grey producersDana Brunetti andMichael De Luca.
Several people and/or films have received Razzie nominations while simultaneously receiving award nominations and other cultural honors from different organizations, sometimes for the same work or role.
Three people have won both a Razzie and an Oscar the same weekend: composerAlan Menken in 1993, screenwriterBrian Helgeland in 1997, and actressSandra Bullock in 2010, though all three won for different films (e.g., Helgeland won a Razzie forThe Postman and an Oscar forL.A. Confidential).[18][19] Three actors have received Oscar and Razzie acting nominations for the same role:James Coco (Only When I Laugh),Amy Irving (Yentl), andGlenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy).[20]
Nineteen Worst Picture nominees have been nominated for an Oscar (with only four of them "winning" the Worst Picture Razzie), withPearl Harbor being the only film in 2002 that won in any Oscars category, namelyBest Sound Editing.
Disney'sThe Hunchback of Notre Dame became the first and so far only animated film to be nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie. The film was nominated for Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million at the 17th ceremony, but it was also nominated forAcademy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score at the69th Academy Awards.
Blonde became the first NC-17 rated film to be nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie. The film was nominated for the most Razzies with eight at the 43rd ceremony: winning only two (including Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay), while the film's main starAna de Armas was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress at the95th Academy Awards.
As of 2024, 77 films have been nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie. Only one film,Wall Street, has won both awards, withMichael Douglas winning theAcademy Award for Best Actor, andDaryl Hannah winning theGolden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress.
Newsies was nominated for Worst Picture at the 1993 ceremony, andAlan Menken won Worst Original Song for "High Times, Hard Times".The 2011 stage adaptation, which did not include "High Times, Hard Times", was nominated for theTony Award forBest Musical, and Menken wonBest Original Score.[21][22]
Current Awards
Retired
Special categories have also been introduced for specific years. Such special awards include:
Every decade-closing ceremony (except in 2020, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic resulting in the cancelation of the40th Golden Raspberry Awards) includes an award for the worst actors and movies of the decade—though the 2000 ceremony put the actors as worst of the 20th century instead. Special prizes for the 25th anniversary of the Razzies awards were also given out in 2005.
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TheRazzie Redeemer Award is presented to a former nominee or winner who has subsequently made a comeback from critical or commercial failure. The award was introduced in 2014. Winners includeBen Affleck,Sylvester Stallone,Mel Gibson, "A Safe Hollywood-Haven",Melissa McCarthy,Eddie Murphy,Will Smith,Colin Farrell,Fran Drescher andPamela Anderson.
This award has been given five times, toRonald Reagan in 1981, toLinda Blair in 1983, toIrwin Allen in 1985, to "Bruce the Rubber Shark" fromJaws[25] in 1987, and to directorUwe Boll[26] in 2009 who received this for his achievement as "Germany's answer toEd Wood".
This is a special award given by Razzie Award GovernorJohn J. B. Wilson to an individual whose achievements are not covered by the Razzies' other categories. It was awarded in 2003 toTravis Payne for "Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography" in the filmFrom Justin to Kelly.[27] It would again be awarded in 2021 to the year 2020 for "The Worst Calendar Year EVER!"[28][29][30]
This award is given to movies with particularly high budgets that bombed at the box office. It was awarded in 2015 toUnited Passions,[31][32] toMisconduct in 2016,[33] in 2017 toCHiPs and in 2018 toBillionaire Boys Club.
The following nominees received at least 10 nominations in a single year:
| The following winners received at least 6 awards in a single year:
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The following nominees received at least 10 nominations overall:
| The following winners received at least 6 awards overall:
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The following people received at least 10 nominations overall: | The following winners received at least 5 awards overall:
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The Razzies have received criticism, including from news sources such asIndieWire[34] andThe Daily Telegraph,[35] for several issues, including that members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation are not required to watch the nominated films.[34] (The Razzies follow a different set of rules[34] than the invitation-onlyAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does.[36][37]) Critics take issue with the Razzies picking "easy targets" and critically panned mainstream films instead of those perceived as less popular but more deserving of notice,[38] and continuing to appeal to celebrities, seemingly for publicity and attention.[34]
Sam Adams ofIndieWire has said the Razzies are "like hecklers hurling insults at comedians or a concertgoer yelling out 'Whoo!' during a quiet song, they're not-so-secretly crying out to be noticed. The Razzies, properly enough, avoid pouncing on the little guy; they don't trash no-budget indies no one has seen for having bad lighting or terrible sound. But it’s hard to escape the notion that it’s less a matter of principle than because they wouldn’t knowJoe Swanberg from a hole in the wall."[34] Robbie Collin ofThe Daily Telegraph wrote, however, that "the Razzies' ongoing failure to train its sights on anything but the most obvious targets means it grows more tired and redundant by the year".[35]CraveOnline's William Bibbiani stated that the Razzies follow "a cheap shot of pranksterism", and "with only a handful of exceptions, the Razzies have only seen fit to nominate the most infamous movies of the year, and not necessarily the worst."[38] In 2018, Scott Meslow, writing forGQ, accused the Razzies of being "pretty lazy, very sexist, and a little racist" in their choices, reiterating criticism that voters were overreliant on films already widely perceived as notorious, and further asserting they disproportionally nominated films directed by and starringTyler Perry and films marketed towards women.[39]
In 2021, Liam Gaughan of theDallas Observer wrote, "It’s easy to find fault in any awards nominations, be it Oscars or Razzies, but the greater issue that the Razzies face is that making fun of bad movies is no longer original. Film criticism, essays and satire all live in abundance on the internet, from both established publications and non-professionals."[37] Daniel Cook Johnson ofMovieWeb echoed a similar sentiment, writing, "Wilson and Murphy's insulting event may have been a wonderfully snarky and skewering enterprise back in the '80s when there was much less film criticism and audience reactions to recent movies. But now, there's little reason for such an invalid vehicle, and the retirement option should be recognized before their relevance and shaky reputation are completely gone."[40]
The Razzies have also seen significant criticism from both within the industry and its own voting body for including underage actors and actresses in their ballots and nominations, with many noting the outcome of their careers and later personal and legal issues. Among those who were nominated or won includeAileen Quinn (at age 11) forAnnie (winner),Gary Coleman (at age 14) forOn the Right Track in 1982,Macaulay Culkin (at age 14) forGetting Even with Dad,The Pagemaster, andRichie Rich in 1995,Jake Lloyd (at age 11) forStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,Jaden Smith (age 15) forAfter Earth (winner), andRyan Kiera Armstrong (at age 12) forFirestarter.Maddie Ziegler, though 18 years old when nominated, wonWorst Supporting Actress forMusic, released in 2021, for a role she played at 14 years old during filming in 2017. After backlash in 2023, the Razzies announced they would no longer nominate individuals under age 18.[9]
| Current awards | |
|---|---|
| Retired awards | |
| History | |
| Award ceremonies | |
