Photo: Screenshot from online

Robert Downey Jr recently stirred controversy online for his behavior toward one of the presenters, Jonathan Ke Huy Quan, during the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on Monday, where he won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Oppenheimer.

The year 2023's Best Supporting Actor winner for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Quan was one of the presenters in 2024. However, when Downey received his Oscar trophy from Quan, he ignored the presenter.

Video footage circulating online shows the 58-year-old Iron Man star turning away to fist bump someone else on the stage, leaving Quan extending his hand for a handshake, only to retract it when Downey ignored him.

The video quickly sparked dissatisfaction among netizens, who said that what Downey did was "arrogant and discriminatory."

A similar incident was pointed out by netizens involving Best Actress winner Emma Stone. Last year's winner, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, presented her with the trophy, and videos showed that Stone pushed the trophy towards someone else before taking it herself. But Yeoh clarified the misunderstood actions on Instagram indicating there were no wrongdoings during the award presentation at all.

The incident has sparked discussions across Asia and even globally. On X, a South Korean netizen juxtaposed the videos of Emma Stone and Downey receiving their awards, emphasizing the similarity in their actions toward the presenters. 

In China's Sina Weibo, netizens also expressed their disappointment. "This is embarrassing, and [These actions] left me no good impression of him I once had when he was the Iron Man," said one netizen.

Despite Stone and Downey's immense popularity in South Korea, the viewers expressed indignation and disappointment while watching the live broadcast.

The South Korean netizens not only showed support for Yeoh and Quan on mainstream social media platforms but also expressed their frustration on domestic platforms, stating, "Robert Downey Jr revived his career in South Korea through Iron Man, but now he's ignoring Asians."

However, some explanations online for Stone suggest that she was simply too excited at the moment and didn't consider her actions thoroughly. It was also noted that Stone later shook hands with Yeoh.

Some netizens also shared photos of Downey embracing Quan after receiving the award, suggesting that accusations of discrimination against Asians are groundless.

 

As of now, neither of them has made a public response to the matter yet.

In Iron Man (2008), Downey, who has amassed one of the top-paying careers in the business, established himself as the main man behind the Marvel movie universe by portraying both Tony Stark and the brilliant businessman.

His 10 Marvel movies culminated in Iron Man's valiant death in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

 

Global Times