An Open Apology to Jon Blair

Jon Blair

Earlier this morning through an e-mail correspondence, I was informed that an article I published on this blog presented false information regarding some Oscar history. After some discussion and reviewing the initial article, I have come to the conclusion that an apology is in order not only for the artist, but for the readers out there who likely took my statements as fact. As a credible writer, it is my goal to give work that is reflective of effort and research in order to make legitimate discussion pieces regarding all topics surrounding the Academy Awards. As evident here, I encourage any additional feedback regarding overlooked errors in all of my work, which I will do my best to diligently fix in a timely manner.

Back on January 29, 2014; I wrote an article titled "Alone  Yet Not Alone Gets Disqualified from the Best Original Song Category." While the article itself focuses on said film's unprecedented disqualification, I  made a statement within the post that now reads like a nonsequitur:

"There are certain performers who have managed to slide into nominations just on their charming relationship with the Academy (see: Meryl Streep). Even past members have gotten advantages based on their connections (see: Jon Blair's Anne Frank Remembered winning Best Documentary Feature in a year that saw the excision of the acclaimed Hoop Dreams from the category). This is another one of them."

I received an e-mail from the actual Jon Blair regarding my inaccuracy. In the correspondence, he informed me that Hoop Dreams was eligible at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1995. Meanwhile, his work titled Anne Frank Remembered was eligible at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1996. At no point were these two films ever in direct competition for Best Documentary Feature.

I have since edited out this statement and made personal apologies to Blair. With the unfortunate passing of a year, I am unable to recall what my resources were when declaring this statement. I feel the need to come forth and admit this mistake and accept that I made an error that not only reads as misinformed, but potentially slanderous to a party that had no involvement with the Academy Awards prior to a later date than stated. 

I accept full responsibility for this error and I have edited the article to fix this. However, I still feel the need to come forward and point this out. I feel the need to be honest with my readers and own up to my mistakes. I hope that this unfortunate mistake is one of very few to come in this blog's existence. I want to thank you for taking time to read this article and please feel free to share with me any other details that may not be true.