Why Robert Downey Jr.'s 2024 Oscars Acceptance Is Being Called Racist On Twitter

The 2024 Oscars were a big night for many, especially Robert Downey Jr. His Academy Award for best supporting actor was a big deal, making him the first former "Saturday Night Live" cast member to take home such an award. He also garnered some sympathy during the evening after host Jimmy Kimmel made a cringeworthy joke at his expense. But just a couple of days after the ceremony, many online are now outright accusing Downey of racism.

On X (formerly known as Twitter), @Detective_X92 uploaded a video of Downey going up onstage to accept his trophy, which was presented by five previous best supporting actor winners, including last year's Ke Huy Quan. The user writes, "Robert Downey Jr ignored Ke Huy Quan at the Oscars 2024! I don't know if this was unintentional or not. It was not cool at all." While Quan holds the Oscar in the video, Downey takes the statue from him without shaking his hand or seemingly acknowledging him in any significant way. However, he does shake hands with Tim Robbins and fist bumps Sam Rockwell, both of whom are white.

Many on X criticized Downey Jr., including @coopercodes: "This is called 'unconscious bias' and it's very much a form of racism," the user wrote. "RDJ is not being directly racist, but he absolutely didn't see the Asian man that literally handed his award [to] him while acknowledging every other white male in the vicinity." It may have been a simple oversight, but is there any legitimacy to all these people calling Robert Downey Jr. racist?

While Robert Downey Jr. seemingly ignoring Ke Huy Quan could be seen as insensitive, is it a stretch to call it racist? Photos later emerged from that evening of Downey and Quan shaking hands backstage. There was even a group shot of Downey posing with the five presenters with his arm around Quan. Others on X seem to think the whole controversy doesn't hold merit, like @MattMustin: "Seeing some unironic 'Robert Downey Jr is obviously a racist a****** who should go to hell' tweets because he didn't make eye contact with Ke Huy Quan and I swear to god all of you need to chill out."

Then again, the flap is bringing to mind another unfortunate incident concerning Downey. In 2015, the actor was asked by The Guardian about director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu calling superhero movies a form of "cultural genocide." The "Iron Man" star, one of a few MCU stars to have won an Oscar, answered, "For a man whose native tongue is Spanish to be able to put together a phrase like 'cultural genocide' just speaks to how bright he is." That statement, combined with Downey appearing to snub Quan, has led to many derisive remarks on social media. 

The question remains: did Downey intentionally ignore Quan? Taylor Swift made headlines earlier in 2024 when people thought she snubbed Celine Dion, who presented her with an award at the Grammys. Award shows can be chaotic, so perhaps Downey was just so overwhelmed he didn't think to shake Quan's hand. Regardless, many find it to have been a bad look.