Jennie Garth is hitting out at the Oscars for its decision to omit Shannen Doherty from the traditional In Memoriam segment Sunday night.
When Garth, 52, was asked about the exclusion by TMZ in New York this week, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum replied, “Yeah, that’s messed up.”
After she was prodded by the outlet as to whether producers behind the show should apologize, Garth said, “Maybe.”
A rep for the actress, who also starred on TV’s Charmed and appeared in the movies Mallrats and Heathers, also told TMZ her snub was “disappointing not to see her included.”
Online, Doherty’s fans slammed the Academy Awards for leaving her out of the montage.
“No Shannen Doherty—star of one of the great films HEATHERS—in the In Memoriam is an outrageous slap in the face,” one person wrote on X. “She was a groundbreaker in the way she stood up for herself and voiced her own opinions during a time when women in the industry were supposed to keep quiet.”
Although Doherty was not included in the segment, which kicked off with a tribute to two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman read by his longtime friend Morgan Freeman, the actress is featured in a lengthier list published on the official Academy website.
Notable Hollywood names were featured in during the tribute reel, including David Lynch, Bob Newhart, Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, Gena Rowlands, Teri Garr, Roger Corman, Shelley Duvall, Donald Sutherland and Robert Towne.
Quincy Jones got his own breakout celebration.
But there were other glaring oversights in addition to Doherty, who died last summer at age 53 following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Harriet the Spy and Gossip Girl star Michelle Trachtenberg was also left out of the segment, angering the actress’ legion of fans online.
“The Oscars not honoring Michelle Trachtenberg in the memoriam is absolutely disgusting,” one person wrote on X, with another adding, “Michelle Trachtenberg acted her entire life. She deserved recognition. She deserves her flowers.”
Candyman star Tony Todd, Romeo and Juliet actress Olivia Hussey and Titanic and Lord of the Rings actor Bernard Hill were several other names that didn’t make the final cut.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the faces that appear during the broadcast are decided on by a secret committee that is comprised of members from all 19 of the Academy’s branches.
“We have to recognize all the art forms that go into the creation of motion pictures,” former Academy executive director Bruce Davis told the outlet. “And if you include all the people, the steam goes out of the boiler very quickly.”
Previous Oscar winners always have the best chance to make the cut, followed by recipients of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards. Of course, “film prominence” also helps determine whether viewers at home will see someone’s face.
Fans of Anne Heche, who starred in Six Days, Seven Nights and Wag the Dog, are still miffed that she was omitted in 2023.
“Leaving her out of the tribute wasn’t just a mistake,” Heche friend and podcast partner Heather Duffy said in an email to THR. “It was a glaring dismissal of her legacy. The Academy should know better, and frankly, they probably do.”
Michael Schulman, an Academy Awards expert and author of the 2023 book Oscar Wars, says that there is always “a rustle of drama beneath the surface.”
“No matter what happens, there will be 10 headlines about who was snubbed posthumously, and there’s nothing that can be done about it.”