The Academy For Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is hosting their 98th annual award ceremony tomorrow. And a funny thing happened on the way to the Oscars. The $220,000,000 taxpayer-funded boondoggle overseen by former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem has drawn intense scrutiny not only on account of the cost, but because that single 60-second promotional effort she authorized outspent the production budgets of every 2026 Oscar Best Picture nominee.
The combined production and promotion budget of every single film on the Motion Picture Academy's list of nominees came in lower than Secretary Noem's extravagant high-hat testament to personal conceit.
The following table compares the $220 million DHS ad campaign budget against the estimated production costs of the top-spending 2026 Academy Award contenders:
Consider this: Film budgets can include one or more years of labor for hundreds of cast and crew members, whereas the DHS budget was for a 60-second clip and its airtime. $175 million of the DHS expenditure went to Safe America Media Group, a corporation formed just days before the contract was awarded and with no prior government experience.
Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) labeled the spending a 'fraud' noting that the campaign featured Noem prominently on horseback at Mount Rushmore, serving more as a political branding exercise instead of a legitimate government service.
And, of course, it pissed-off El Jefe (The Boss). After Noem testified before Congress that President Trump signed-off on the spending, the President publicly stated, I never knew anything about it, noting that he spent less money than that to actually become President.
Oh boy howdy. Someone gonna take that girl to the woodshed before too long....
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment