The 2022 Oscars Broadcast Cut A Key Part From The Best Makeup And Hairstyling Acceptance Speech

While we're all struggling to process what the 2022 Oscars looked like last night, it is important to note that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences continues to wear a bit of egg on their face due to the way they handled several below-the-line awards that are crucial to the success of the films they support. This trickled into the pre-show awards briefly shown throughout the ceremony, where the "Eyes of Tammy Faye" hair and makeup team's speech was cut short — right when the winners were reminding the audience of the importance of below-the-line teams.

To a room of deafening applause, winner Linda Dowds said:

"There are tens of thousands of crafts people just like us, who are below the line, who come into work every day and work long and hard and who never get the opportunity to have this kind of recognition. I just hope that each and every day on set everyone takes a moment to just look around and look at all those people who work so hard."

This portion of the speech was omitted during the telecast. Dowds shared the win with her two department colleagues, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh. "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" star Jessica Chastain made sure she was present for the award. which was given during a separate, earlier ceremony just before the Oscars broadcast alongside several other awards while the red carpet arrivals happened. Chastain can be seen hugging the hair and makeup winners as they took the stage for their speech in several clips online.

This year, the Academy Awards decided to make a move that has been fairly controversial across the board and augment their usual schedule of awards. Instead, they had Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin host what the Academy called the "golden hour" — which was basically just a 60-minute segment of the show that would never air live. During this segment, the winners of eight categories — Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Film Editing, Best Live Action Short Film, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Sound — gave acceptance speeches that normally would have been part of the primary broadcast.

Despite the fact that the winners of these eight categories were delegated to essentially a completely separate ceremony, they did all get some time to shine during the live broadcast on Sunday, March 27. Their speeches were edited into the live telecast — a seemingly desperate bid by producers who likely hoped the tactic will keep the show moving at a steady pace and save time by cutting out the long winners walks from the seats to the stage.

It's a less than respectable decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but it's certainly not an unexpected one. While the trim-down makes room for things like the unexpected and very real Will Smith/Chris Rock moment and other speeches that go long, it robs some of the industry's most talented folks of their time to shine. It takes a lot of work to be eligible to walk onto the Oscars stage during Hollywood's biggest night, and there needs to be a level of respect toward these folks that always remembers that effort and drive. They deserve a full Oscars moment.