Richard Gere has spoken in detail for the first time about his alleged 20-year ban from the Academy Awards.
The Pretty Woman icon was reportedly banned from the Oscars when he went off script while presenting the award for Best Art Direction at the ceremony in 1993.
But now, a source connected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences further told Page Six, ‘There was no ban,’ calling Gere’s story into question.
When reading the teleprompter, he suddenly went rogue and ignored the script, denouncing China’s policies in Tibet and speaking directly to China’s then-leader Deng Xiaoping.
While the live audience applauded, the Academy later rebuked his behaviour, with then-producer Gil Cates saying, ‘Does anyone care about Richard Gere’s comments about China? It’s arrogant.’
While Gere was never officially ‘banned’ from the Oscars, a source suggested to Entertainment Weekly that Cates did not wish to bring Gere back as a presenter on any of the ten subsequent broadcasts he produced prior to his death in 2011.
Gere first became a passionate advocate for Tibetan independence when he met the Dalai Lama 45 years ago, a friendship that led Gere to produce the documentary Wisdom of Happiness about the spiritual leader, which came out earlier this year.
But in a new interview with Variety, Gere discussed his Oscars ban for the firs time, saying he has never discussed the controversy with the Dalai Lama.
‘It never came up,’ he said. ‘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, But that’s about as close as it gets to actually talking about movies.’
Gere continued, sharing his thoughts on the ban: ‘I didn’t take it particularly personally.’
He continued: ‘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. 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… that everyone is redeemable, and in the end, everyone has to be redeemed or none of us [are]. So in that sense, I don’t take it personally.’
It wasn’t until 2013 that Gere presented again when he joined his Chicago castmates to hand out awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song.
He joked to HuffPost UK at the time: ‘Apparently, I’ve been rehabilitated. It seems if you stay around long enough, they forget they’ve banned you.’
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