Donnie Yen Presents at the Oscars Despite Controversy
Despite his earlier controversial comments, Donnie Yen (甄子丹) presented at the 95th Academy Awards. On a night when Asian American actors made history at the Oscars, Donnie had the honor to introduce “This Is a Life” from Everyone Everywhere All at Once which was nominated for Best Song.
However, it was unknown until the last minute whether Donnie would indeed attend the Oscars due to his controversial comments during an interview with GQ Hype. He shared his thoughts on Hollywood and criticized the western media for only reporting on negative news about China. He mentioned the 2019 Hong Kong protests and stated, “It wasn’t a protest, okay, it was a riot. This is based on my personal experience as my friends and I were in Hong Kong at the time. I don’t want to talk about politics, and many people may not like what I have to say but this is based on my experiences.”
Donnie’s comments did not sit well with netizens. Appointed to the Chinese political advisory committee, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Donnie Yen (甄子丹) also attended the National Conference held in Beijing. On March 4, a petition was created on change.org titled, “Cancel Inviting an Actor Donnie Yen as a Presenter for the Oscars” and as of March 13, it already has over 108,000 signatures. Street protesters were seen carrying signs, “Say No to CCP Puppet.”
Despite this, Donnie ultimately attended the Oscars on Sunday night, following other big names such as Jackie Chan (成龍) and Chow Yun Fat (周潤發) as awards presenters. His new movie John Wick 4, which also stars Keanu Reeves, will premiere on March 24, 2023.
Source: [1]
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
He probably feels he can command 1. a better status 2. a better money deal in the China Movie scene rather than in Hollywood or even Hong Kong so felt he could be bold about his statement. Like Jackie Chan who has been spending years bowing to the Chinese Government and the rich in China, Donnie Yen is doing nothing new. His types of movies is past its era and time, unlike Chow Yun Fat who is respected in Hollywood and given parts for his talents, Donnie Yen still wants that big part because he feels he should have the same status as he had in Hong Kong at the height of the Yip Man saga. Good luck to him in China, but for sure his types of movies are archives and if he doesnt move on to new genre of movies like of Tony Leung, Andy Lau etc, he will just be someone who once was famous for fighting and traditional movies.
Chow Yun fat was just another HK flavor of the month during the time Hollywood discovered the cult popularity of HK action films. During those days HK actors and directors flocked to LA, but all eventually returned to HK within a brief time due to lack of further opportunities. Years after Tomorrow Never Dies, Michelle Yeoh was in the right place with her second time in Hollywood, coincidental to the clamor for Asian-American representation and undoubtedly, the rising clout of Asia.
I’m a long time Donnie Yen fan, as you can tell by my username. I’m glad he still attended the awards. Guy knows what his bread and butter is, so he will still be making mainly action films imo. I think his opinions are fine. Excited to see him in John Wick 4. Sounds like he killed it.