Heath Ledger’s Bold Stand (Photo Credit – YouTube)
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Heath Ledger is remembered for his acting and integrity. Before making the world fall in love with his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Ledger received critical acclaim for playing a homosexual man opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain.
At the 2007 Oscars, Ledger and Gyllenhaal were asked to present an award. However, the organizers added a joke about their critically acclaimed film to their opening monologue. This annoyed Ledger, who then refused to present the award.
When Heath Ledger Rejected the Oscars Invite to Present an Award
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Brokeback Mountain starred Ledger and Gyllenhaal as a cowboy and a farmhand, respectively, who fall for each other in the 1960s and struggle with their feelings. The film was appreciated for its sensitive portrayal of the subject and won three Academy Awards in 2006. The following year, the two leads were invited as presenters at the Oscars.
However, a joke about Brokeback Mountain was added to the script of their opening speech. In 2007, people were still not very accepting of homosexuality, and same-sex marriage was illegal in the US. Ledger believed joking about the film would defeat its purpose and rejected the Oscars’ proposal.
Gyllenhaal made the revelation in an interview with Another Man magazine in 2020. “I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it [Brokeback Mountain], And Heath refused,” the Road House actor said.
“I was sort of at the time, ‘Oh, okay… whatever.’ I’m always like: it’s all in good fun. And Heath said, ‘It’s not a joke to me. I don’t want to make any jokes about it. That’s the thing I loved about Heath. He would never joke. Someone wanted to make a joke about the story or whatever, he was like: ‘No. This is about love. Like, that’s it, man. Like, no,'” he added.
Ledger unfortunately passed away on January 22, 2008, due to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. He was only 28. The following year, he was posthumously awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his iconic performance as Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
