Rachel Zegler Is Reportedly Invited To The Oscars Following Twitter Outrage

One short national nightmare is apparently coming to an end: According to Deadline, Rachel Zegler has been invited to the 2022 Oscars, and The Hollywood Reporter reports she’s been asked to be a presenter. This means, should she accept the invitation, she will get to go to the Academy Awards and walk the red carpet after all.

For those who haven’t been following this riveting drama, it began — as much drama does — in an Instagram comments section. Zegler posted a photo of herself walking the red carpet at the BAFTA Awards over the weekend, one of the final events during the run-up to Oscar night. When a fan commented that they could not wait to see what she would wear to the Oscars red carpet, she replied that, unfortunately and despite her best efforts, she was not invited to the Oscars.

The story went viral within hours. For most fans who are not privy to the inner workings of the movie biz, Zegler’s exclusion made zero sense. The ceremony is already going to absurd lengths to placate ABC’s desire to bring in a younger audience. I mean, there’s an entire Twitter category of “Most Popular Film,” even though the winner won’t actually get an Oscar. The Academy even cut eight categories from the broadcast to make room for more entertainment. Why wouldn’t the Gen Z, Latinx starlet of a commercially popular movie score an invitation?

It wasn’t long before activists started questioning if Zegler being not white might have something to do with her lack of an invite. But Zegler quickly took to Twitter, begging fans to cool it and saying there were things behind the scenes that were the reason she couldn’t go to the awards show. (Although she did notably like a tweet that called out the show’s lack of Latinx representation that made her absence troubling.)

However, there was a more solid reason Zegler couldn’t attend the show: She’s in the middle of filming the live-action Snow White in London. Going to the BAFTAs, which are in the same city as production, was one thing. But traveling to Los Angeles and then back to the U.K. would require ample time to travel (and follow any health protocols) for Zegler, both coming and going, and could significantly delay the film’s production.

But even so, the Academy has reportedly stepped up and extended an invitation to Zegler. Whether or not there is time for her to accept is up in the air, though, as the ceremony is right around the corner, which would mean dropping everything and speed-ordering a gown.

Hopefully, fans will get to see Zegler walk the red carpet for the 94th Annual Oscars. The ceremony broadcasts live at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.