Parties and Protests: A Night at the Oscars

23-Feb-2009
Written by: Whitney Luce, TheCelebrityCafe

Protestors sound off regarding Jerry Lewis as the recipient of the humanitarian award.

Jerry Lewis, who is just slightly older than the Oscar ceremony itself, accepted his humanitarian award with great controversy. Lewis, 82, has raised more than $2 billion through his MDA telethons. Inside the awards ceremony, Lewis gave a short and humble speech, saying that the humanitarian nod “touches me in the depths of my soul.” The Oscar Party at the George Eastman House on East Ave. held many happy partygoers inside, nibbling appetizers and watching the Oscars on the big screen inside Dryden Theater. Outside, however, the scene was slightly different. Protestors lined the streets outside the Eastman house, upset with the humanitarian award’s presentation to Lewis. According to MSNBC, organizers say Lewis has been portraying the disabled using a message of pity for decades, calling people with disabilities “half a person.” They say it is “de-humanizing and believe Lewis has no business getting a humanitarian award.” Diane Coleman of the Center for Disability Rights speaks out saying, “No more pity. We are tired of the pity approach.” She goes on to state, “We are a part of the wonderful diversity of this country and we want to be a part of things like everybody else.”

Lewis is not a stranger to controversy, being in the hot seat in the past for his insults to female comics and using gay slurs. According to the L.A. Times, Lewis did not visit news media backstage.