Reagan, the biopic starring Dennis Quaid as the nation’s fortieth president, was apparently ineligible to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards because it failed to meet DEI requirements.
Out of Contention
According to the film’s screenwriter, the current rules would exclude many legendary past winners from even being considered – never mind all the new work being cast aside. “We were among 116 films that were eliminated for consideration this year,” screenwriter Howard A. Klausner told The New York Post. “Obviously, there needs to be a conversation about this policy.”
Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) instituted new criteria that films must meet in order to be considered for Best Picture. The rubric requires movies meet two of four possible categories focused on underrepresented groups, including women, racial or ethnic groups, the LGBTQ+ community, or people with disabilities.
While not implemented until 2024, the changes came in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of 2015 when all 20 acting nominations were given to white actors. These new rules apply to representation on screen, in creative leadership, in training opportunities, or in the distribution of the film.
Reagan was far from a critical darling, but it does boast a 98 percent audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s producer Mark Joseph told The Post that he plans to apply for a Guinness World Record for greatest disparity between everyday viewers’ and critics’ approval of a movie (98 percent to 18 percent).
The film, which was made by the independent production company Voltage Pictures for just $25 million, was released in theaters in August and netted nearly $30 million at the box office. That doubled the domestic earnings of 2025 Best Picture winner Anora.
‘They Got Robbed’
Megyn was a big fan of Reagan and interviewed Quaid and co-stars Penelope Ann Miller, and Dan Lauria last summer. She took issue with the lack of recognition for the biopic. “The biggest outrage of the whole [Oscars]: Where was Reagan? Reagan was not nominated for Best Picture… [because] they didn’t qualify under the weird DEI standards that Hollywood has,” she said. “You are not eligible to win that award unless you have quotas met on your cat. It’s ridiculous. They got robbed – that is my own opinion.”
Rather than watch the tedium of the three-and-a-half-hour telecast that featured nominees like “anti-Catholic” Conclave and trans musical Emilia Pérez, Megyn said she and her family took a walk down memory lane. “We watched Braveheart last night,” she shared. “That was an actually great movie.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,017 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.