Razzies Remove Child Star From 'Worst Actress' Nominees

Formally known as the Golden Raspberry Awards, the satirical awards show is dedicated to spotlighting some of Hollywood's "worst" productions, which is a pretty nasty premise in and of itself. However, the Razzies ended up eliciting a huge amount of backlash from both regular commenters and former child stars alike earlier this week, and it was all because of its decision to include the 12-year-old Firestarterstar amongst its "Worst Actress" nominees.

"The razzies are already mean-spirited & classless, but to nominate a kid is just repulsive & wrong," as one person wrote, while others accused the organization of "straight-up bullying" and being "a bunch of neckbearded misogynists who enjoy humiliating literal 12 year old girls."

The razzies are already mean-spirited & classless, but to nominate a kid is just repulsive & wrong. Why put a kid at risk of increased bullying or worse? Be better.

— Julian Hilliard (@_JulianHilliard) January 23, 2023

The Razzies is ran by a bunch of neckbearded misogynists who enjoy humiliating literal 12 year old girls with a 'Worst Actress' nomination. pic.twitter.com/WDlL9QjMmE

— Felicity 🏳️‍⚧️ ♀️ (@Tranarchic) January 23, 2023

Maybe it's just me but nominating 12 year old girl for anything "worst" feels straight-up bullying to me. Then again, I never expected any class from this awful organization. No idea why they still exist. #razzies #razzieawards pic.twitter.com/gK3udA6A4G

— Jack | The Reel Talk | 🍿 (@TheReelTalk) January 22, 2023

In response, Varietyis now reporting that the Razzies have apologized for the misstep and will implement a new rule requiring all nominees to be at least 18-years-old to avoid similar "mistakes" in the future, per Razzies co-founder John B. Wilson.

“Sometimes, you do things without thinking, Then you are called out for it. Then you get it. It’s why the Razzies were created in the first place,” Wilson wrote in a statement obtained by the outlet on Wednesday. "The recent valid criticism of the choice of 11 year old [sic] Armstrong as a nominee for one of our awards brought our attention to how insensitive we’ve been in this instance."

But even though the Razzies couldn't even bother to get Armstrong's age right, the organization did announce that it had "removed Armstrong’s name from the Final Ballot" before issuing a "public apology" to the young actress, with Wilson adding that they "regret any hurt she experienced as a result of our choices.”

“We have never intended to bury anyone’s career. It is why our Redeemer Award was created,” Wilson continued. “We all make mistakes, very much us included. Since our motto is ‘Own Your Bad,’ we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it.”

Armstrong has yet to comment. In the meantime, you can read Variety's entire report on the controversy here.

Photo via Getty / Jon Kopaloff / WireImage