“Now two of the most creative and talented men I have ever known, loved, and lost have not been mentioned in the #oscars memoriam,” Tori Spelling, 46, tweeted on February 10, a day after the 92nd Academy Awards made a major faux pas by leaving the late Luke Perry out of the montage honoring the stars (and behind-the-scenes workers) that passed away the prior year. As for the other one of those “most creative and talented men” that Tori was talking about? Her father, producer Aaron Spelling.
“First, my Dad Aaron Spelling who passed in 2006 and now my friend Luke Perry who passed in 2019.” Tori’s father died on June 23, 2006, five days after suffering a stroke. Similarly, Luke died on March 4, 2019, from complications from a stroke he suffered just five days before his death. The similarities are haunting, and the fact that both were omitted from the “In Memoriam” segment must have reopened an old wound in Tori’s heart. Tori’s husband, Dean McDermott, also went on social media to blast the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for who they left out this year. “Also missing from the in Memoriam is Sid Haig, Tim Conway, Michael J Pollard, Jan Michael Vincent, and Cameron Boyce.”
Some argued, at the time, that Aaron Spelling was not included in the Oscars’ memorial segment since he was more associated with television than films. Aaron produced Beverly Hills 90210 — which saw Tori play Donna Silver alongside Luke Perry’s Dylan McKay — along with Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Dynasty, 7th Heaven and Charmed, just to name a few. However, while most of Luke Perry’s body of work was on the small screen, he was a movie star. He actually had a role in Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood, which was up for ten awards at the 2020 Oscars.
Now two of the most creative and talented men I have ever known, loved, and lost have not been mentioned in the #oscars memoriam. First, my Dad Aaron Spelling who passed in 2006 and now my friend Luke Perry who passed in 2019. 😢
— Tori Spelling (@torispelling) February 11, 2020
The backlash over Luke’s omission led the Academy to explain itself. “The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars In Memoriam segment,” the organization said in a statement.
“An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time. All of the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year.” Despite the “limited available time,” the Oscars managed to include Kobe Bryant (who won an Oscar in 2018 for Dear Basketball) and Kirk Douglas, who died four days before the Oscars telecast.