Richard Gere appeared to have zero regrets about the move that got him banned from the Oscars for 20 years.
The veteran actor, 76, made a rare comment about the 1993 incident, which made the Academy Awards organizers vow never to invite him again.
“I do what I do,” Richard said in his latest comments.
Richard Gere appeared to have zero regrets about the move that got him banned from the Oscars for 20 years
Highlights
- Richard Gere made a rare comment about his 20-year ban from the Academy Awards.
- The controversy stemmed from off-script statements he made onstage in 1993.
- “It's arrogant,” an Oscars official said at the time, and vowed to never invite him again.
- “I do what I do…” Richard said as he addressed the Oscars controversy in a recent interview.
Image credits: Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images
In an interview with Variety published this week, Richard Gere addressed the scandal surrounding him and the Academy Awards.
He was banned from the Oscars for two decades after going off-script and making inflammatory statements onstage in 1993.
Image credits: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
“I didn’t take it particularly personally,” he said in his recent interview.
“I didn’t think there were any bad guys in the situation. I do what I do, and I certainly don’t mean anyone any harm,” he continued.
“I do what I do…” said the Hollywood star as he deviated from the script onstage
Image credits: Oscars
The Nights in Rodanthe actor said he was targeting the violation of human rights and not any person in particular.
“I mean to harm anger. I mean to harm exclusion. I mean to harm human rights ab*ses, but I try to stay as close to where His Holiness comes from… that everyone is redeemable, and in the end, everyone has to be redeemed or none of us [are],” he said.
“So in that sense, I don’t take it personally,” he added.
Image credits: Evan Agostini/Getty Images
Back in 1993, when Richard was still enjoying the Hollywood high of Pretty Woman (1990), he was invited to present the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
But while presenting the award, he deviated from the script and used his moment on stage to criticise the Chinese government’s treatment of Tibet.
The actor condemned China’s “horrendous, horrendous human rights issue” in Tibet and said Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping might be watching the telecast of the awards show.
“It's arrogant,” awards producer Gil Cates said during the controversy, and vowed never to invite him again
Image credits: Oscars
Richard urged viewers to “send love and truth and kind of sanity to Deng Xiaoping right now in Beijing, that he will take his troops and take the Chinese away from Tibet and allow these people to live as free independent people again.”
His bold statements were met with applause from the audience, but they quickly stirred controversy and outrage.
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Organisers of the Academy Awards were reportedly appalled by his statements.
“Does anyone care about Richard Gere's comments about China? It's arrogant,” awards producer Gil Cates wrote in a piece titled “Oscar Officials Slam Presenters’ Political Plugs” for the LA Times.
Richard was absent from the Oscars for 20 years until he made a return in 2013
Image credits: The View
“[For] someone who I invite to present an award to use that time to postulate a personal political belief, I think is not only outrageous, it's distasteful and dishonest,” Gil continued. “I wouldn't invite them to my home, and I won't invite them to a future show.”
Richard had been an advocate for Tibetan freedom even before the Oscars controversy.
Image credits: Madman Films
The film icon and longtime Buddhist co-founded the organisation Tibet House in 1987 and went from being a student to a friend of the Dalai Lama.
The Primal Fear actor, who is banned from China, was also the executive producer of the 2025 documentary about the Dalai Lama, titled Wisdom of Happiness.
The actor spoke about whether he has addressed the Oscars controversy with the Dalai Lama
Image credits: Madman Films
Following his ban in 1993, Richard never returned to the Oscars until he was invited as a presenter in 2013.
“It seems if you stay around long enough, they forget they've banned you,” he told the Huffington Post at the time.
Image credits: The View
During the newly published interview with Variety, Richard was asked whether he ever spoke to the Dalai Lama about the Oscars controversy.
“It never came up,” he told the outlet.
“They’ll tell him once in a while if I get an award or something and he sends a note, congratulating me, that he’s happy for me,” he continued. “But that’s about as close as it gets to actually talking about movies.”
“He was pro Tibet before it was cool,” one commented online, while another said, “I love this man; as an Actor and as a good human being”
