The 2003 Oscars revisited and remembered as the 'creepiest' in history

foxnews.com:

The 2003 Oscars are coming under scrutiny by entertainment media ahead of Sunday's upcoming ceremony as the "creepiest" in history.

While last year's slap heard round the world was one of the most infamous moments in the ceremony's 94 years, and the controversy over "La La Land" winning and then not winning for Best Picture after actress Faye Dunaway's error may be one of the most awkward, media outlets are arguing those were not the "cringiest" the Oscars have had to offer. "Harvey Weinstein at the height of his powers.

Roman Polanski feted like a king," Rolling Stone Magazine wrote. "The 2003 Oscars was a low point in the ceremony’s 94-year history."   "20 years later, we look back at a cringeworthy Oscars for the ages," a Los Angeles Times headline similarly said.

Several outlets have noted how much Harvey Weinstein loomed the night of March 23, 2003, years before the #MeToo movement exposed Weinstein as a sexual predator and he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault.That night, three of the five best picture nominees — "Chicago," "Gangs of New York" and "The Hours" — were released by the Disney-owned, Weinstein-led Miramax Films. "Chicago" ended up winning six Oscars.     "But never again would a single awards season feel quite so overstacked with his movies, or — in retrospect — so queasily emblematic of his chokehold on the industry that he bullied, manipulated and abused for decades," LA Times critic Justin Chang recently commented.