Before your Spidey senses start tingling about something shady surrounding Andrew Garfield and Miles Scott’s (Batkid) planned appearance at the Oscars – which was scrapped at the last minute – the Academy has weighed in on what happened.
“The Amazing Spider-Man” star was supposed to present at Sunday’s show with Miles – the 5-year-old San Francisco boy with cancer, who won over the world’s heart when he dressed as the caped crusader as part of a Make A Wish event last November – but their appearance had to be cut from the show.
“Due to the nature of a live show, hard decisions sometimes must be made which require the Academy to cut segments due to the logistics of production,” the Academy said in a statement to Access Hollywood on Thursday.
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One report claims that Andrew was not happy with how the segment was going and “stormed off” during rehearsals on Saturday.
Despite Miles not appearing at the Oscars, the actor made it up to the 5-year-old with something a kid might enjoy even more than appearing at an awards show.
“Andrew Garfield understood that his segment had to be omitted, and he drove to Disneyland on Monday to spend time with 5-year-old Miles Scott (Batkid) and his family,” the statement from the Academy continued.
An Academy rep told Access that Miles really just wanted to spend time with Spider-Man and was able to do that on Monday.
Also on Thursday, the actor’s rep told Access, “In full collaboration with the Academy and the show writer, Andrew prepared a segment for the Oscars to honor Miles Scott as the true hero that he is. As some point overnight on Saturday / Sunday morning, it was decided by those running the show that the segment didn’t work in the ceremony. They decided to pull it – Andrew and Miles were equally upset. The producers arranged for Miles and his family to visit Disneyland on Monday and Andrew drove down to visit them and to bring Miles a personal gift.”
Adding, “Andrew did the right thing for Batkid and anyone saying otherwise is flat out lying.”
— Jesse Spero
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