Why Was Richard Gere Banned from the Oscars? What to Know After the Actor Broke His Silence About the Controversial TV Moment
- - Why Was Richard Gere Banned from the Oscars? What to Know After the Actor Broke His Silence About the Controversial TV Moment
Christopher RudolphDecember 6, 2025 at 8:30 PM
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Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty; Oscars/Youtube
Richard Gere in October 2025; Richard Gere at 1993 Oscars -
Richard Gere was banned from the Oscars for nearly 20 years after making unscripted remarks during the 1993 ceremony
He returned to present at the 2013 Academy Awards
In a December 2025 Variety interview, Gere spoke about the TV moment and its aftermath
For years, Richard Gere was absent from the stage on Hollywood's biggest night.
The Pretty Woman star was banned from the Academy Awards for going off-script during the 1993 ceremony, and now, more than three decades later, he is breaking his silence about being left off the Oscars' presenters list.
At the 65th Academy Awards ceremony, Gere appeared on the Oscars telecast to present the award for Best Art Direction. During his brief time on stage, he made remarks about China and the "horrendous human rights situationā happening in Tibet.
As seen in a video clip uploaded to the official Oscars YouTube channel, his ad-lib received applause from the audience in the room, but the Academy ultimately excluded the Chicago actor from presenting at the ceremony for several years.
Here's everything to know about why Richard Gere's comments got him banned from the Oscars and what he has said about the televised moment's impact.
Why was Richard Gere banned from the Oscars?
Vinnie Zuffante/Getty
Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere at the 1993 Academy Awards
Gere was banned from the Oscars for unscripted remarks he made while presenting the award for Best Art Direction on March 29, 1993.
Before listing the nominees in the category, the Primal Fear star commented on how 1 billion people around the world were watching the telecast, and he was "curious" about which countries were tuning in, and if "it is in fact being seen in China right now."
"The first thought that came to me was, I wonder if Deng Xiaoping is actually watching this right now, with his children and his grandchildren, and with the knowledge that what a horrendous, horrendous human rights situation there is in China. Not only towards their own people, but to Tibet as well," said Gere, who has been an outspoken advocate for Tibetan freedom.
"If something miraculous, and really kind of movie-like, could happen here, where we could all kind of send love and truth, and a 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," he continued.
The audience applauded, but shortly after, Bob Rehme, then-president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said that the awards show is "about movies, about peopleās work in movies, about entertainment."
"Itās not supposed to be about political activities around the world (no matter) how much individually we might support any one of those causes," he continued, per the Los Angeles Times.
Gil Cates, the then-show's producer, was quoted as saying, "Does anyone care about Richard Gereās comments about China? Itās arrogant."
How long was Richard Gere banned from the Oscars?
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Richard Gere at 2013 Academy Awards
Gere didn't return to the Oscars stage until Feb. 24, 2013 ā nearly 20 years after he made his unscripted remarks.
During those two decades, the actor appeared in the movie musical Chicago, which won multiple Oscars, including Best Picture.
At the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, Gere appeared with his Chicago costars Queen Latifah, RenƩe Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones to present Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
"Apparently, I've been rehabilitated. It seems if you stay around long enough, they forget they've banned you," he told HuffPost UK that year.
What has Richard Gere said about being banned from the Oscars?
V innie Zuffante/Getty
Richard Gere at 1993 Academy Awards
In a December 2025 interview with Variety, Gere broke his silence about the nearly 20-year ban, revealing that he "didn't take it particularly personally."
"I didnāt think there were any bad guys in the situation," he said. "I do what I do and I certainly donāt mean anyone any harm. I mean to harm anger. I mean to harm exclusion. I mean to harm human rights abuses."
"But I try to stay as close to where His Holiness comes from," Gere continued, referring to his longtime friend, the Dalai Lama. "That everyone is redeemable, and in the end, everyone has to be redeemed or none of us [are]. So in that sense, I donāt take it personally."
How long has Richard Gere been friends with the Dalai Lama?
BILL SWERSEY/AFP via Getty; NIHARIKA KULKARNI/AFP via Getty
Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama in 1987 ; Richard Gere and the Dalai Lama in 2025
Gere has been friends with the Dalai Lama for over 45 years.
The actor and activist has been a practicing Buddhist since 1978, and he is an executive producer of Wisdom of Happiness, a recent documentary about His Holiness.
The two are friends, but Gere admitted to Variety that the Oscars controversy "never came up" between them.
"Theyāll tell him once in a while if I get an award or something and he sends a note, congratulating me, that heās happy for me," the Runaway Bride star said. "But thatās about as close as it gets to actually talking about movies."
Has Richard Gere ever been nominated for an Oscar?
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Richard Gere at 2013 Academy Awards
Gere has appeared in Oscar-winning movies, like Days of Heaven and Chicago, but the actor himself has never been nominated for an Academy Award.
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