Academy Awards Controversy
During the 1975 Academy Awards ceremonies, with the Vietnam War nearly over, Bert Schneider, accepting an award for the anti-war documentary Hearts and Minds, read a telegram from a Viet Cong diplomat thanking Americans for “the liberation of South Vietnam.” After receiving angry telegrams backstage, Bob Hope, a co-host with Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) and Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934), composed this draft disclaimer on the back of a telegram for Sinatra to read, over objections from MacLaine.
During the 1975 Academy Awards ceremonies, with the Vietnam War nearly over, Bert Schneider, accepting an award for the anti-war documentary <em>Hearts and Minds,</em> read a telegram from a Viet Cong diplomat thanking Americans for “the liberation of South Vietnam.” After receiving angry telegrams backstage, Bob Hope, a co-host with Frank Sinatra (1915–1998) and Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934), composed this draft disclaimer on the back of a telegram for Sinatra to read, over objections from MacLaine.