Director Ridley Scott is receiving an Academy Honorary Award at the 17th Governors Awards on November 15, 2026, honoring Scott's decades of influential work, including Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise, and more, despite never winning a competitive Oscar. He has three Best Director nominations.
Denzel Washington, who starred in Scott’s American Gangster and Gladiator II, has long championed the director and expressed disbelief at the snub.
In 2024, while promoting Gladiator II, Washington publicly called out the Academy, saying Ridley Scott is “overdue” for recognition:
“Ridley is overdue. How can he not have won an Oscar? That doesn’t even make sense. I don’t believe it, actually.”