Oliver Stone Clarifies Barbie Remarks Just Before Movie Snags 8 Oscar Nods

Oliver Stone has apologized for speaking ignorantly with regard to the 2023 blockbuster Barbie , noting that his headline-making remarks were made well before hed gotten the chance to view the Oscar-nominated film. 

Very disappointed to see Deadline, a publication I respect, run this sensationalistic, out-of-context statement I made about Barbie weeks before the film came out, the four-time Academy Award-winning director wrote on X , formerly Twitter, and Instagram  Monday night. At the time, I was busy promoting my nuclear documentary in Europe and had little to no knowledge of the project beyond its title. 

Stone went on to note that he watched Barbie in a theater and appreciated the film for its originality and its themes. He also praised director Greta Gerwig  and described her 2017 film Lady Bird as one of his favorites of that year. 

He concluded, I wish Greta and the entire Barbie team good fortune at the Oscars.

On Monday, Deadline published an article that featured quotes Stone had made in a June 2023 interview with City A.M. , a British publication. In it, the Platoon and Natural Born Killers director fired off at actor Ryan Gosling , who portrays Ken in Barbie, for not focusing on more serious films. 

Ryan Gosling is wasting his time if hes doing that shit for money. He should be doing more serious films, Stone said. He shouldnt be a part of this infantilization of Hollywood. Now its all fantasy, fantasy, fantasy, including all the war pictures: fantasy, fantasy.

Elsewhere in the interview, he also took shots at the Fast and the Furious and John Wick franchises. 

Oh yeah, so on the plane I watched John Wick, which is three hours and some, he said. And I fell asleep about 778 times during it. I kept waking up and having to face him killing more people. Its like the world has degenerated into non-logic.

Despite what Stone may or may not have thought about his Barbie role, Gosling on Tuesday received an Oscar nomination  for Best Supporting Actor. The film itself received snagged a total of eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera.