HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 15, 2000 – Let it be know that the President is not above the Oscar. As we reported earlier, the soon-to-exit Bill Clinton was presented with a fake “Oscar” honoring his presidency at a reception party yesterday at Paramount studios.
And while the Prez, the Gov, the studio and the guests in attendance knew that the mock presentation was all in good fun, the real Oscar people from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences weren’t so pleased about the use of their registered symbol, which was so real-looking that it was identified at the event as an Oscar.
“We had no knowledge there was going to be a counterfeit Oscar or an Oscar of any kind presented at the event,” Academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger tells Hollywood.com
Unger says that the Academy only became aware of the incident through news coverage of the party today. It then issued a dead-serious press statement to clarify any possible mix-up.
“At this point, we have not yet has a chance to determine if we can do anything about it. They’ve given a counterfeit to the president, we’re not going to ask for it back,” Unger says.
And don’t count on the Academy to issue a real one to the president, for as Unger tells us, they won’t.
