The Academy's board of Governors has decided to rescind the original song nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone," music by Bruce Broughton and lyrics by Dennis Spiegel. However, the board decided not to place an additional nominee in the category.
According to a press statement from the Academy: "the decision was prompted by the discovery that Broughton, a former Governor and current Music Branch executive committee member, had emailed members of the branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period."
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said, "No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one's position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one's own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage."
The board determined that Broughton's actions were inconsistent with the Academy's promotional regulations. The Academy terms state that "it is the Academy's goal to ensure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner. If any campaign activity is determined by the Board of Governors to work in opposition to that goal, whether or not anticipated by these regulations, the Board of Governors may take any corrective actions or assess any penalties that in its discretion it deems necessary to protect the reputation and integrity of the awards process."
Following the disqualification, Broughton told Variety, "I'm devastated. I indulged in the simplest, lamest, grass-roots campaign and it went against me when the song started getting attention. I got taken down by competition that had months of promotion and advertising behind them."
The disqualification is not the first to happen in Academy history. Back in 1972, Nino Rota's score for "The Godfather" was taken out of competition when the Academy found out key portions had been used in an earlier film. In 1968, the Oscar for documentary feature was presented to "Young Americans," but was later revoked after it was revealed that the film had debuted in 1967. The statue was later given to "Journey Into Self."
The remaining nominees in the category will be:
"Happy" from "Despicable Me 2"; Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
"Let It Go" from "Frozen"; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
"The Moon Song" from "Her"; Music by Karen O; Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
"Ordinary Love" from "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"; Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen; Lyrics by Paul Hewson
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