In an unprecedented move, Hurt Locker producer Nicholas Chartier has been denied admittance to the Academy Awards Sunday night after it was discovered he’d conducted an email campaign admonishing Academy members to vote for his movie, not that “$500M film,” an obvious reference to James Cameron’s Avatar. Dissing the competition in any way contravenes the academy rule prohibiting nominees from “casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film,” reports the LA Times. In a special late-night meeting, the executive committee of the producers’ branch stopped short of stripping him of his nomination. Should Hurt Locker win, Chartier would be handed his Oscar statuette after the March 7 ceremonies.

L.A. Times