The 40 Biggest Snubs and Surprises in Awards Show History
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It isn't an awards show without few snubs and surprises. While some of these slights have proven to be inconsequential and forgotten with time, others have remained top of mind for many awards season fanatics. The wounds stay open and the pain of a fan-favorite, frontrunner, or critical darling either not taking home a certain award or not even receiving a nomination in the first place lingers. There are also those snubs that stand out in the storied history of awards shows that might not have felt like snubs at the time, but feel like highway robbery in hindsight.
Did you know that neither Alfred Hitchcock nor Stanley Kubrick ever won Best Director at the Academy Awards? Or that Jason Alexander was stiffed on an Emmy for Seinfeld, despite seven consecutive nominations? How about that Courteney Cox was never even nominated for Friends, while her five costars were? The list of legends who never won a Grammy is also dumbfounding: Diana Ross, Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Queen, and Bob Marley are all Grammy-less.
Below, we've rounded up over 40 of the biggest Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys snubs and shocks in awards show history. And while the various academies that decide on these awards occasionally try to right their wrongs by awarding certain icons honorary or lifetime achievement awards, those arguably aren't the same as winning a competitive award—so we've limited our list to the latter.
Greta Gerwig didn't get a Best Director nomination and Margot Robbie didn't get a Best Actress nod at the 2024 Oscars.
The internet became divided in early 2024 after Academy Award nominations were announced and Barbie was snubbed twice over: Greta Gerwig for Best Director and Margot Robbie for Best Actress.
Alfred Hitchcock never won Best Director at the Oscars—despite five nominations.
Widely heralded as one of the best film directors in history—helming films like Rear Window, Vertigo, and Psycho—Hitchcock was nominated five times for Best Director, yet never took home a trophy.
Glenn Close has never won an Oscar—despite eight nominations.
Glenn Close holds the unfortunate distinction as the most-nominated actor in Oscars history who has never won an award at the ceremony (both she and Peter O'Toole have eight nominations each). The Academy has recognized Close with nods between 1983 and 2021 for performances in The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction, and Dangerous Liaisons—but her biggest snub came in 2019 when she was nominated for The Wife. Despite being a frontrunner, Close lost the award to Olivia Colman, who won for The Favourite.
Peter O'Toole never won an Oscar—despite eight nominations.
O'Toole's eight nominations, which were all for Best Actor—and spanned an incredible 44 years—were for his performances in the likes of Lawrence of Arabia, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Stunt Man and My Favorite Year. O'Toole died in 2013.
Beyoncé has never won Album of the Year at the Grammys.
This is one of the most pertinent snubs on the entire list. As her husband, Jay-Z, pointed out at the 2024 ceremony, despite being the artist with the most Grammy wins ever, Beyoncé has never won Album of the Year. In fact, of her 32 wins, only one of those wins has come in any of the "big four" categories: her 2010 Song of the Year win for "Single Ladies." It's particularly egregious when you remember that her surprise drop visual album, BEYONCÉ—which changed the music industry forever—lost in 2014. What does this woman need to do to win Album of the Year?
Courteney Cox was never nominated for an Emmy for Friends.
Of the six principal actors on Friends, Courteney Cox is the only one to be completely shut out at the Emmys during the series' 10-season run. Her five costars all nabbed at least one nomination, with Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston being the only two to ever take home a trophy. You know the hyper-competitive Monica would feel some sort of way about this—and rightfully so!
Crash upset Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture at the Oscars in 2005.
Crash winning Best Picture instead of Brokeback Mountain will go down as one of the most shocking upsets in the history of the Academy Awards. The divisive Paul Haggis-directed movie bested Ang Lee's critically beloved romance in 2005, and it's a shocking win that still gets talked about nearly 20 years later. With its win, Crash became just the second Best Picture winner in history to not receive a picture nomination at the Golden Globes.
Steve Carell never an Emmy won for The Office.
Michael Scott is one of the most iconic television characters in history, with Steve Carell's career-making performance still having an impact on pop culture today. He was nominated six times during the show's nine-season run, but never won.
Amy Adams has never won an Oscar—despite six nominations.
While she doesn't hold the title for the most-nominated actor who has never won (a distinction shared by Glenn Close and Peter O'Toole, as mentioned), Amy Adams has been nominated for six acting Oscars and has yet to take home a trophy. Not only that, but many feel as though she deserved a seventh nomination for her performance in 2016's Arrival.
Jason Alexander never won an Emmy for Seinfeld—despite seven consecutive nominations.
George Costanza is one of the most beloved sitcom characters of all time, but Jason Alexander never walked away with a trophy. In fact, Jerry Seinfeld didn't either! Despite five nominations for his acting, the only Emmy that Jerry ever won for the series was Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993. At least Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus nabbed wins for their work on the show.
Spike Lee has only been nominated once for Best Director at the Oscars.
Spike Lee is an undisputed mogul of the modern film industry, but he has only been nominated for Best Director once. He was completely snubbed for his signature film Do The Right Thing in 1990, the year that Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture—a decision that hasn't exactly aged well. Lee's lone Oscar win came in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for his film BlacKkKlansman, which also garnered him Best Picture and Best Director nominations, in 2019.
The Wire was never nominated for Outstanding Drama or any acting awards at the Emmys.
HBO's The Wire is one of the most seminal TV shows of the modern era, and it's often cited as one of the best series in television history. And yet, the Academy barely ever recognized it. The Wire was never nominated for Outstanding Drama Series—or in any acting categories, for that matter—which feels like an absolute crime. Thankfully for the Baltimore-set series, history has been very kind to it.
Diana Ross, Snoop Dogg, Bob Marley, and more legends have never won a Grammy.
Perhaps they were ahead of their time, or perhaps the Recording Academy just couldn't bring itself to recognize their talents, but there are plenty of legendary artists who have yet to win a competitive Grammy. Brian McKnight and Snoop Dogg are tied as the artists with the most nominations who have never won (17), while Diana Ross, Nicki Minaj, The Beach Boys, Björk, Jimi Hendrix, and Queen are among the other icons who have never taken home a competitive trophy.
Better Call Saul never won a single Emmy—despite 53 nominations.
Breaking Bad may have won 16 of the 58 Emmys it was nominated for throughout its run, but its spinoff, Better Call Saul, had a much lower batting average. Of the 53 times that the hit show was nominated for Emmys, it won a grand total of zero. Now that's what we call a snub.
Roseanne was never nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys.
While Roseanne Barr's behavior in recent years has tainted the show's legacy, the original iteration of Roseanne was one of the most defining sitcoms of the '90s. It ran for an impressive 10 seasons and didn't receive any nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.
John Hughes was never nominated for an Oscar.
John Hughes, one of the most seminal directors of the '80s—who gave us classics like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off—never received an Oscar nomination. His films might not seem like traditional Academy Awards fare, but it's hard not to view his lack of any recognition as a big snub from the Academy.
Samuel L. Jackson has only been nominated for one Oscar.
Samuel L. Jackson is one of the biggest icons currently working in Hollywood, and yet, he has only ever received one Academy Award nomination during his career. His sole nod came in 1995 for his performance in Pulp Fiction, but he shockingly lost the award to Martin Landau for his turn in Ed Wood.
Angela Lansbury is the most snubbed Emmy-nominated actor ever.
Legendary actress Angela Lansbury holds the unfortunate title of the most-snubbed Emmy-nominated actor of all time, having been nominated an incredible 12 times for her work on Murder, She Wrote—but she never won in her category. She also notched six other nominations throughout her decade-spanning career and didn't win any of those times either.
Kendrick Lamar's Grammys losses to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in 2014.
Macklemore had a genuine zeitgeist-dominating moment in the early-to-mid-2010s, which culminated at the 2014 Grammy Awards, when the duo won Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best New Artist over critical darling Kendrick Lamar—but also over legendary names like Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Drake. The outrage over Macklemore's wins reached such a fever pitch that he felt the need to send Kendrick an apology text for "robbing" him of the awards, which he then posted on Instagram to even more backlash.
Lauren Graham never received an Emmy nomination for Gilmore Girls.
Gilmore Girls has proven to be one of the most defining shows of the early aughts, but Lauren Graham—who co-starred on the show with Alexis Bledel—was never nominated for her beloved work on the series, which ran for seven seasons. Justice for Lorelai!
Singin' in The Rain wasn't nominated for Best Picture at the 1953 Oscars—and won zero awards at all.
Considered to be one of—if not the—best musical film of all time, Singin' in The Rain amazingly only received two Oscar nominations at the 1953 ceremony and didn't take home any awards. The Academy may have a hot and cold relationship with musicals, but this one deserved more recognition.
Saving Private Ryan lost Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love at the 1999 Oscars.
When people think of major snubs at the Oscars, they think of the 1999 Academy Awards when the night's top prize shockingly went to Shakespeare in Love over critical darling Saving Private Ryan, starring Matt Damon. The John Madden-directed winner became the first comedy to be named Best Picture in 20 years and also notched Gwyneth Paltrow her sole Oscar win in the Best Actress category. While Steven Spielberg's war epic didn't win for Best Picture, it did take home five awards that night.
Stanley Kubrick never won Best Director at the Oscars—despite four nominations.
Stanley Kubrick received his nominations for Dr. Strangelove, 2001: Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon—yet he never came out on top at the awards show. He received 13 total Oscar nominations and took home one win for Best Visual Effects for 2001: Space Odyssey, though!
Hugh Laurie never won an Emmy for House—despite six nominations.
House is one of the quintessential procedurals of the mid-aughts, with Hugh Laurie's performance as Dr. Gregory House anchoring the series—but his impressive six nominations never landed him a win.
Amy Winehouse lost Album of the Year at the 2008 Grammys.
For years, the Recording Academy was criticized for being behind the times, resorting to recognizing long-standing legacy acts over more contemporary hitmakers in the big categories, and this is one of the most infamous examples of that. To be fair, Hancock's River: The Joni Letters was the first jazz album to win Album of the Year in 43 years, and Hancock remains the last Black artist to nab the award. That being said, the late Winehouse's Back to Black was the clear favorite that year, and its lasting relevance speaks to its impact. She did win the three other big categories that year, so she wasn’t completely robbed of her spotlight moment at the ceremony.
The Shawshank Redemption won zero Oscars—despite seven nominations.
The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most classic films to come out of the '90s, and yet it won no Academy Awards. It was quite the stacked year at the Oscars, so the Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins co-starring film lost most of its awards to another classic: Forrest Gump.
Cary Grant received only two Oscar nominations—and didn't win.
Despite being one of the most classic movie stars in Hollywood, appearing in films like Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday, Cary Grant received only two nods, in 1942 (for Penny Serenade) and 1945 (None But the Lonely Heart).
Martin Sheen never won an Emmy for The West Wing— despite six nominations.
Martin Sheen played the president on The West Wing, which took home an astonishing 26 Emmys throughout its seven-season run on NBC. Sheen was nominated for his performance after six of those seasons, but he was snubbed every time.
Katey Sagal and Ed O'Neill were never nominated for Emmys for Married… with Children.
Married… with Children is one of the most beloved late-'80s and '90s sitcoms, running for a remarkable 11 seasons. Despite its immense popularity, the show was never nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, and its stars, Katey Sagal and Ed O'Neill, were never nominated for their acting work. In fact, incredibly, Katey Sagal has never been nominated for an Emmy—and while Ed O'Neill nabbed three noms for Modern Family, he never took home the prize.
Cicely Tyson received just one Oscar nomination ever.
One of the most trailblazing actors to ever work in Hollywood, the late Cicely Tyson paved the way for many Black actresses. The icon notched nearly 100 acting credits during her career, but she received just one Academy Award nomination for her work in Sounder in 1973.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial lost the Best Picture Oscar in 1983.
The Steven Spielberg-directed E.T. became the highest-grossing film of all time when it was released, but Richard Attenborough's Gandhi finished its sweep at the 55th Academy Awards by taking home Best Picture over the blockbuster. Attenborough himself even said that E.T. "should" have won the top prize that year.
Keri Russell has never won an Emmy—and was never nominated for Felicity.
It's rare for actors to notch multiple signature TV roles throughout their careers, but Keri Russell is an exception to the rule—even if she's never taken home an Emmy for said work. While she was never nominated for her starring turn on the late '90s/early '00s hit show Felicity, she did nab three nominations for her work on The Americans and one for the first season of The Diplomat. Still, she's never won.
Judy Garland was only ever nominated for two Oscars.
Judy Garland was one of the most iconic actresses of her generation, and yet she only received two Oscar nominations throughout her career. The only award she won at the ceremony was a "Juvenile Award" for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, which to many feels like a consolation prize. Perhaps adding insult to injury, Renée Zellweger won an Oscar in 2020 for her portrayal of the actress in Judy.
Bill Murray has only one Oscar nomination ever.
While he's largely known for his comedic talents, Bill Murray has shown remarkable range as an actor throughout his 50-year career. That being said, Murray's only recognition from the Academy came in 2004, for his performance in Lost in Translation.
Andy Griffith never won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for The Andy Griffith Show.
You wouldn’t have had The Andy Griffith Show, one of most legendary sitcoms of all time, without Andy Griffith. The lauded actor was never even nominated for his performance on the show, however, despite the series' five lifetime Emmy wins–four of which went to his costar, Don Knotts. In fact, Griffith only received one Emmy nomination during his decades-long career.
ABBA wasn't nominated for a Grammy until 2022.
It doesn't get more iconic than the Swedish pop group ABBA, whose hits like "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia" are still wedding playlist necessities to this day—which makes their nomination drought that much more surprising. In 2022, "I Still Have Faith for You," their first new track in years, was nominated for Record of the Year. Many saw that nod, as well as the slew of nominations they got in 2023, as the Academy trying to make up for lost time. Sure, but nothing can erase these snubs.
Mia Farrow was never nominated for an Oscar, despite Woody Allen's 24 nominations.
Screen legend Mia Farrow appeared in over 30 films throughout her storied tenure in Hollywood, 13 of which were directed by her ex-husband, Woody Allen. While Allen has received 24 Oscar noms in his life, including four wins, Farrow has never once been recognized by the Academy.
Sandra Oh has never won an Emmy—despite nine nominations.
Sandra Oh is one of the most gifted actresses of her generation, having made a huge impact as Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy and following that up with a critically acclaimed turn on Killing Eve. Despite a collective nine nominations for her performances across the two shows, however, Sandra has still yet to win an Emmy.
Paul Thomas Anderson has never won an Oscar—despite 11 nominations.
PTA, as many in the film industry affectionately call him, is one of the more prolific auteurs of the modern era—but despite receiving 11 nods throughout his career for Best Director, Best Picture, and for screenplay writing, Anderson has yet to win an Oscar.
Martin Scorsese didn't win an Oscar until 2007.
Martin Scorsese's name is practically synonymous with film directing at this point, so it's easy to forget that he didn't win his first Oscar until 2007, for The Departed. He had been nominated five times previously for the likes of Goodfellas, Age of Innocence, and Raging Bull, none of which garnered him a win. Since his big win, Scorsese has gotten six more nominations for Best Director and Best Picture, but hasn't come away with another trophy.
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