{"id":7976979,"date":"2026-03-13T06:46:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/?p=7976979"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:11:05","slug":"oscars-war-iraq-2003-how-the-show-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/industry-news\/awards\/oscars-war-iraq-2003-how-the-show-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember When a War in the Middle East Completely Disrupted the Oscars?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

The United States and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28, 15 days before the 98th Academy Awards. For people who\u2019ve been following the Oscars for a long time, the timing brought vivid memories of March 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq the week before the Oscars ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are dramatic differences between the two years, of course. In 2003, the war began only three days before the Oscars, prompting immediate talk of canceling the show and leading to a decision to eliminate the red carpet lined with fans and press; in 2026, there was no outcry to cancel or delay the ceremony. When the war in Iraq started in 2003, it was the main \u2013 in fact, the only \u2013 topic of conversation in Academy Awards circles. But on the weekend when hostilities began in Iran this year, the big awards news was that \u201cSinners\u201d had beaten \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d at the Actor Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a few of the same people were involved with both shoes: Kate Hudson was a presenter then and is nominated now, and Joe Letteri won the visual-effects Oscar in 2003 for \u201cThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers\u201d and is nominated again in 2026 for \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash.\u201d And above all, both shows have raised qualms about celebrating entertainment at a time when bombs are falling, and both raised obvious security concerns<\/a>, this year\u2019s focusing on a threat of Iranian drone strikes on California, something far beyond the scope of Oscars security.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In that atmosphere, it seemed to be a good time to take a look back at how the 2003 show played out behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” star Andy Serkis on the red carpet at the 75th Oscars (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 2002, as producer Gil Cates got to work on what would be the 11th Academy Awards show of the 14 he would produce, the administration of George W. Bush had been talking about removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power, forcibly if necessary. The president spoke of ties between Hussein and the Al Qaeda terrorist organization responsible for the previous year\u2019s 9\/11 attacks on America, of the dictator\u2019s record of brutality and violence within his own country, of the likelihood that he had or was preparing weapons of mass destruction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the first of the year, as Oscar voters produced a slate of nominations headed by Rob Marshall\u2019s \u201cChicago,\u201d Martin Scorsese\u2019s \u201cThe Gangs of New York\u201d and Roman Polanski\u2019s \u201cThe Pianist,\u201d military action seemed increasingly likely. On March 6, two and a half weeks before the Oscars were scheduled to take place on March 23, President Bush gave a press conference in which he pushed for a United Nations vote authorizing the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein from power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same day, about 100 Oscar staffers met for a production meeting at which Cates promised the show would go on. Then the Oscars\u2019 longtime security chief, Kirk Smith, delivered some final advice for the room. \u201cSecurity will be tighter than ever this year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe ask that you tell your folks, please empty out your trunks before you come to the theater. We will be searching cars, and we don\u2019t want to have to go through your vacation stuff every time you drive into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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A week later, Cates did a series of radio interviews to promote the show, then shook his head when an ABC staffer asked him what he thought the chances of war were. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to war,\u201d he said. \u201cI only hope \u2014 and I know this sounds awful \u2014 I hope it either starts Monday the 17th, or March 24th.  If it starts anytime between the 20th and the 23rd, we\u2019re f—ed. We are f—ed<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday the 17th, Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to relinquish power and leave Iraq. On Tuesday, Hussein rejected Bush\u2019s ultimatum. Inside the production, fears grew that if the war began Thursday or later, blanket news coverage would make televising the show impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backstage at the Kodak Theatre, Cates hung a sign on his door that read, \u201cWHEN THIS DOOR IS CLOSED, PLEASE DO NOT COME IN.\u201d Danette Herman, the show\u2019s longtime talent booker, who had been working for weeks to persuade former winners to return for a 75th anniversary reunion, hung one on her door that read simply, \u201cTHE BUNKER.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Protesters outside the Oscars (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Midweek, Will Smith\u2019s publicist called to say that the actor no longer felt it was appropriate for him to be on the show as a presenter. Herman quickly replaced Smith with Brendan Fraser. Increasingly, Cates and Herman fielded phone calls from reps for actors who were uncertain about walking the red carpet, who said they\u2019d rather quietly slip in the back way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese were intense times,\u201d Danette Herman said. \u201cAs Gil and I quickly learned from our many phone calls with participants, they had sensitivities about what was going on in another part of the world and the impact it could have here. Keeping that in mind was at the forefront of our discussions.  And there were many.\u201d    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At lunch on Wednesday, a group of production and Academy staffers met at a restaurant in the Hollywood & Highland complex to go over their options. The idea of hanging onto the theater for an extra week was discussed but eliminated; it would have entailed buying out the run of an incoming Scooby-Doo musical, an expensive proposition. Cates suggested doing away with the fans along the red carpet, saying that it wouldn\u2019t be appropriate for celebrities to run that shrieking gauntlet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you do that but keep the press there,\u201d his press aide Chuck Warn said, \u201cthey\u2019re just going to keep asking about the lack of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Cates said, \u201cthen maybe we should get rid of the press, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
Gil Cates and Frank Pierson announce the scaled-back red carpet. (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A couple of hours later, Cates and Academy president Frank Pierson gave a small press conference. \u201cFor some months now, Gil and his crew have been preparing for our show on Sunday while the clouds of war were gathering around us,\u201d read Pierson from a page in front of him. \u201cWe always knew there were some changes we would make if we needed to \u2026 We need the show to reflect a kind of soberness and seriousness we are all confronted with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cates then announced the changes that would be made: The portion of the red carpet that ran along Hollywood Boulevard between bleachers filled with press and fans would be eliminated. Interviews on the red carpet would not be permitted, and only a few crews would be allowed to photograph arriving stars. The pre-show broadcast would be scaled back, and its tone changed to reflect events in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privately, they ordered a brown carpet to replace the red carpet, but then decided that red would be OK without the fans and the press.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In the production office inside the Kodak, five laminated, blown-up pages went up on the wall. Three of the pages deal with the protocol on handling bomb threats, two with handling suspicious mail. A film sequence originally planned to open the telecast \u2013 a satellite photo that started in space, then zoomed in on North America, then on the west coast, on Southern California, on Los Angeles and on Hollywood, all the way down to a tight shot of the roof of the Kodak \u2013 was quietly eliminated, because it was disturbingly similar to aerial reconnaissance photos and to shots seen during the first Gulf War of \u201csmart bombs\u201d taking out specific targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, the war began in earnest. Rehearsals went on as usual, but the monitors inside the Kodak that normally showed show footage were turned to CNN and ABC News. Jim Carrey, Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie joined the quiet stream of presenters who pulled out.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
Gil Cates, right, with director Louis J. Horvitz during preparations for the 75th Oscars (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At one point, Cates walked to the production table in the orchestra section of the theater, sat down and sighed. \u201cIt\u2019s been a very strange year,\u201d he said softly. \u201cVery strange. I was literally on the phone with Annette Bening, and the second I hung up the phone it rang again, and somebody was calling me to say, \u2018Did you hear Annette Bening cancelled?\u2019 I do not know where the rumors come from, but you cannot<\/em> control them.\u201d (Eventually, Bening did cancel.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Host Steve Martin and his writers kept adjusted the opening monologue \u2013 but in truth, most of his cuts were to save time, not to reflect the stormy times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Saturday, bombs were continuing to drop as the \u201cShock and Awe\u201d campaign picked up, and most of the networks kept up their nonstop coverage of the hostilities. But in the Kodak, with dress rehearsal looming, staffers no longer gathered to watch CNN and see if events would affect the show; instead, they glanced at it as they worked, assuming that the Oscars would take place as scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The performers of the nominated songs \u2013 Paul Simon, U2, Queen Latifah and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Lila Downs and Caetano Veloso — were asked not just to dress as they would on the night of the show, but to be in full makeup at the dress rehearsal as well. If they asked why, stage manager Garry Hood was honest with them: \u201cIt\u2019s so that we have it in case something happens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before dress rehearsal, Cates took part in a conference call with ABC executives to discuss how to handle the war coverage during the Oscars. ABC\u2019s news division asked for four minutes of time in the show to update viewers on any developments from Iraq. In addition, Alex Wallau, the president of ABC Networks, wanted a hotline phone installed at his seat in the twelfth row of the Kodak, so that he could be notified in the case of events so momentous that the show would have to be taken off the air. The production was growing frustrated with the network\u2019s requests, but they agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
Renee Zellweger on the scaled-down red carpet (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The afternoon of the show, the scene was markedly different than the usual Oscar day. Stars who arrived on Hollywood Boulevard would pass one small bleacher with a dozen camera crews but no interviewers, while most guests would enter off Highland Avenue, through the back of the mall and well out of the way of any cameras. Both paths led to metal detectors, and to tables where photo I.D. was checked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
The back entrance to the Kodak Theater at the 75th Oscars (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upstairs at lunch, Cates tried to relax.  \u201cThe only way I\u2019d call it off now,\u201d he said, \u201cis if a nuke goes off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He turned to director Louis J. Horvitz.  \u201cJust one comment,\u201d he said. \u201cIf someone makes a speech that\u2019s very political, cover both sides. Like you did with the Elia Kazan [when the controversial director received an honorary Oscar in 1998], so we don\u2019t get accused of favoring one side. If somebody says something political, show both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first couple of hours of the show, politics didn\u2019t intrude much. ABC took its newsbreaks, but there wasn\u2019t any real news and they didn\u2019t even use the full four minutes they\u2019d asked for. Best Supporting Actor winner Chris Cooper (\u201cAdaptation\u201d) ended his speech by saying, \u201cIn light of all the troubles in this world, I wish us all peace,” and Gael Garcia Bernal introduced a performance from the movie \u201cFrida\u201d with some lines that weren\u2019t on the TelePrompTer: \u201cThe necessity for peace is the world is not a dream, it is a reality, and we are not alone. If Frida was alive, she would be on our side, against war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"75th
Michael Moore delivers his speech. (Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But then came Michael Moore, who won the feature documentary award for his incendiary \u201cBowling for Columbine.\u201d The audience greeted the filmmaker with a standing ovation as he launched into a denunciation of the U.S. policy in Iraq. \u201cWe like non-fiction,\u201d he said, \u201cand we live in fictitious times. We live in a time when we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheers for Moore continued, but one audience member shouted, \u201cno!\u201d and a smattering of boos began to come from the back of the theater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons!\u201d Moore shouted, as the boos grew to about the same volume as the cheers. \u201cWe are against the war, Mr. Bush!  Shame on you, Mr. Bush!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wings of the stage, stagehands began shouting at Moore.  \u201cThat\u2019s bulls—!\u201d yelled one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet him off<\/em>!\u201d shouted another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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