Robbie Williams has already earned a Golden Globe nomination for his song “Forbidden Road” from Better Man, but now he has been disqualified from Oscars contention.
Better Man is a new film about the life of the British pop star with a CGI monkey playing the singer instead of an actual actor. The musical uses Robbie‘s songs and “Forbidden Road” is a new one written for the film.
The song was up for the Best Original Song award at the upcoming 2025 Oscars and the Academy already revealed that the song made it on the shortlist of 15 songs that will compete for a nomination.
Now, it has been revealed that the Academy has disqualified the song.
Keep reading to find out more…
Variety reports that the song “incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for the film.” To be eligible for Best Original Song, a song must be “original and written specifically for the motion picture.” This is why songs from the movie Wicked are not eligible for this category, as all the songs in Part One were written for the Broadway show.
It’s reported that “Forbidden Road” contains similarities to the song “I Got a Name” from the 1973 movie The Last American Hero. Variety reports that Charles Fox, who co-wrote that song, actually serves as a governor on the Academy’s music branch.
“This is a decision that both honors our rules and protects the special nature of the Original Song and Score categories,” the Academy told the members of the music branch.
The 14 songs that are still eligible for the award are…
“Winter Coat” from “Blitz”
“Compress/Repress” from “Challengers”
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Sick In The Head” from “Kneecap”
“Beyond” from “Moana 2”
“Tell Me It’s You” from “Mufasa: The Lion King”
“Piece By Piece” from “Piece by Piece”
“Like A Bird” from “Sing Sing”
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
“Out Of Oklahoma” from “Twisters”
“Kiss The Sky” from “The Wild Robot”
“Harper And Will Go West” from “Will & Harper”
