Why Jennifer Lawrence And Jodie Foster Are Replacing Casey Affleck At The 2018 Oscars

because the Academy Awards tradition goes, per year the Oscar for Best Actor is presented by the previous year's Best Actress, and Best Actress by the previous year's Best Actor. But at the 2018 Oscars, we're seeing a break in that tradition, as 2017 Best Actor Casey Affleck quietly bowed out of the duty, the Academy and his personalized rep both confirmed in January. Equally, 2017 Best Actress Emma Stone will not be presenting this year's Best Actor with his statuette, yet she will appear on stage to hand out an award for a different category.)


Affleck's stepping down has opened up the category presentation for a female-powered lineup, with former Best Actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster presenting Best Actor, and former Best Actresses Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren presenting Best Actress.


Yet in spite of the fact that the rep for Affleck released no further statement, letting his action speak for itself, the Academy's statement — "We appreciate the choice to keep the concentrate on the show and on the good work of this year" — seems to indicate a swift avoidance of the controversy that marred the actor's awards season run.


Last year, because the awards campaign for Manchester By the Sea gained speed, allegations made against Affleck in 2010 — with him on the accused end of a sexual harassment lawsuit — resurfaced. The case was settled before it went to trial, presumably to the satisfaction of all parties involved.


Yet a clause of the settlement prohibits public discussion of the allegations, since his win, Affleck has publicly condemned sexual harassment overall, telling the Boston Globe, "I believe that any sort of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and each person deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else." Still, a online petition against Affleck presenting at the 2018 Oscars garnered almost 20,000 signatures ahead of the actor's resignation.


Without consideration of the official reasoning in back of the move, it seems safe to mention this decision wasn't made because Affleck is ungrateful for the honor.


"I'm really overjoyed to be a piece of this community overall and I look out at all of you, and I have this whole year, and I'm just dumbfounded that I'm included, and it also means a lot to me," he graciously mentioned at last year's ceremony while accepting his award. It also meant a lot to his older brother, two-time Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, who looked on with tears in his eyes as his little bro stood on stage.