‘Reagan’ screenwriter claims Oscars’ DEI requirements excluded film from Best Picture consideration

“Reagan,” the biopic of President Ronald Reagan starring Dennis Quaid, did not receive any Oscar consideration because it did not meet the Academy’s DEI standards, according to the film’s screenwriter.

“I think the situation speaks for itself. There’s not really anger and indignation among those of us who made this film, we didn’t seriously expect to be nominated for anything by Hollywood in this cultural climate— it’s just sadness, really,” Howard Klausner told Fox News Digital via email.

He continued, “What has become of the magnificent Dream Factory that once was Hollywood. Once upon a time it spoke to the heart and dreams of pretty much everybody, and the leaders and luminaries of the 20th century industry intuitively seemed to ‘get’ the middle of the country as well as the cultural elite.”

Klausner earlier told the New York Post, “By these new rules, many previous winners would never have been recognized.”

OSCARS ARE OVER, ‘OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AUDIENCE’ AND SADDLED WITH DEI REQUIREMENTS: EXPERT

“We were among 116 films that were eliminated for consideration this year,” he continued. “Obviously, there needs to be a conversation about this policy.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for comment.

Instituted in 2024 for the 96th annual ceremony, AMPAS now requires films in consideration for best picture to meet two out of four possible categories worth of criteria, focused on underrepresented groups, including women, racial or ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ or people with disabilities.

The representation can come onscreen through casting and storytelling, creative leadership behind the scenes like directors, cinematographers, makeup artists and more, internship and training opportunities for underrepresented groups, or representation in the marketing, publicity and distribution of the film.  

The film’s producer, Mark Joseph, also told the New York Post he intended to apply the film for a Guinness World Record for largest disparity between viewer and critical approval of a film, citing the film’s 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes compared to its 18% rating with critics.

Klausner told Fox News Digital, “I mean, movies seriously used to bring us all together. Now they seem to be a big part of the continuing cultural divide. I don’t have any axe to grind or fingers to point here, I still have many friends and colleagues in ‘The Town’ as it’s lovingly known. I just really lament the truth in what a very highly placed studio executive told me recently: ‘Now we primarily make movies for 10% of the population.’

“I choose the 90%. I left Hollywood a few years ago to write and produce ‘heartland films’ just like this one. But I love what we once were as an industry, as a voice in the culture. And truly believe we can be that again.”

Last year, Quaid and the film’s marketing team claimed Facebook wouldn’t allow them to boost a post with Quaid’s picture promoting the movie through a paid advertisement. Also, Facebook suspended the movie’s official account at least twice over clips it posted of Quaid discussing the movie in media appearances.

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The marketers said they were told by Facebook that the post “mentions politicians or is about sensitive issues that could influence public opinion, how people vote and may impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation.” 

Quaid told Fox News’ Trace Gallagher last year the system appeared to be “automated.” 

“This happened several times, actually, and we were suspended two days in a row,” Quaid said. “The last time I heard, Reagan hasn’t been on the ballot in 40 years and, not only that, he’s not even eligible to run because he served two terms.”

A Meta spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital, “While there are no restrictions on this page that would prevent the admins from posting, we did identify a handful of ads from this account that were incorrectly rejected. This happened because our automated systems mistakenly determined that content about President Reagan required prior authorization in accordance with our policies for ads about social Issues, elections or politics. This was a mistake, and the restriction on the ads has been lifted.”

The “Parent Trap” star also told Fox News Digital, “The one thing I would say was Facebook, before they did censor materials relating to it, is that they did it without even seeing it.”