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Yo Yeoh! Michelle Yeoh deletes IG post calling for 'non-White Best Actress winner' after severe backlash

'This is for every little girl that looks like me... We want to be seen. We want to be heard,' Michelle Yeoh captioned the post

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Michelle Yeoh shared an extract from an article on Instagram that stated Cate Blanchett "already has two Oscars" before quickly deleting it. Yeoh received backlash for her initial post on Tuesday, March 7 as she is vying with Blanchett for the Best Actress award at the upcoming Academy Awards. 

Yeoh shared a Vogue story titled 'It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?' The Malaysian actress, who is up for an Oscar in 2023 for her performance as Evelyn Wang in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', shared several passages from the story in her post on Instagram, reports Independent.

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What did Michelle Yeoh say in her post?

In her caption, Michelle Yeoh, 60, stated "This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me... We want to be seen. We want to be heard." After going viral on Twitter, the post subsequently vanished.

'She already has two Oscars'

The 'Crazy Rich Asians' actor was criticized for posting a specific passage that pointed out 'Tár' actor Blanchett. It read, "Detractors would say that Blanchett’s is the stronger performance – the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár – but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars (for best supporting actress for The Aviator in 2005, and best actress for Blue Jasmine in 2014)." 

'For Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing'

The statement continued, "A third would perhaps confirm her status as an industry titan but, considering her expansive and unparalleled body of work, are we still in need of yet more confirmation? Meanwhile, for Yeoh, an Oscar would be life-changing: her name would forever be preceded by the phrase ‘Academy Award winner,’ and it should result in her getting meatier parts, after a decade of being criminally underused in Hollywood."

Lack of representation

'Everything Everywhere All At Once', which has enjoyed critical and commercial success, is the most nominated movie of the season, making this year's event particularly noteworthy. Hollywood still struggles with a dearth of representation for colored or Asian stars. 'Nope', 'Till', and 'The Woman King', movies with Black leads and directors, were not recognized; neither were any actors of color in the Lead Actor category nor were any women nominated for Best Director, per New America.org. 

In spite of the Academy Awards' obstinate resistance to change in many areas, diversity has improved in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, according to a new USC research, reports LA Times. Only 6% of nominees for the Academy Awards have been people of color over the course of their 95-year history, according to the survey. 17% of all candidates have been female from the first Oscars to this month's 95th event. The percentage of nominees who are women of color is only 2%. The year 2023 has the most Asian nominees — 20, which is largely due to "Everything Everywhere All at Once's" 11 nominations. Over the course of two years, in 2020 and 2021, Asian candidates won 23% of all awards. 

'The desperation'

The Internet exploded with mixed reactions to her post. Some noted the final day of Oscar polling was on Tuesday, March 7. A journalist tweeted, "Which overeager 2016-era I’m With Her millennial on Michelle Yeoh’s social media management team got that instagram post approved please explain yourself." Another user wrote, "Today is the last day of Oscar voting." Someone else said, "The desperation lol."

One user tweeted, "Anyway Michelle Yeoh deleted her Instagram post so I hope everyone who was weirdly racist in her comments feels better about themselves, I guess." Another person noted, "I’m rooting for her but her post was cringe and unnecessary." Someone else tweeted, "I think she deleted more to ensure it didn’t break any Oscar rules. Last day of voting but better safe than sorry." "It was her who made it about race not talent…deleting it doesn’t make it unseen," another argued. One user claimed, "Maybe she'll confront the hate.....during her Oscar speech." Another user wrote, "No I’ve lost so much respect for Michelle Yeoh for posting this. The winner of the Oscar should only come down to the acting. Not how many awards somebody has already won. If Cate has two it’s cause she deserved it, like why is the the counter argument."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.