Academy Rescinds Oscar Nomination for Violation of Campaign Rules

Greg P. Russell's sound mixing nomination for '13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi' was rescinded, though the film itself remains in contention for Sunday's awards.

Greg P. Russell's best sound mixing Oscar nomination for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi has been rescinded, the Academy announced Saturday

According to the Academy, its board of governors voted on Thursday to remove the nomination for Russell, though the film itself remains in contention for Sunday's awards.

Russell's nomination — the 17th of his career — was rescinded due to "violation of Academy campaign regulations."

The Academy discovered recently that Russell had called members of the sound branch during the nominations phase to make sure they were aware of his work, the organization said. That violated a rule against the telephone lobbying of Academy members.

An additional nominee for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi will not be named in his place. Instead, the other named nominees for the film, who had earlier been announced along with Russell, will represent the film: They are Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth.

Sound mixing is the only category in which the film was nominated. It is competing against sound teams from Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

"The board of governors’ decision to rescind Mr. Russell’s nomination was made after careful consideration," said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. "The Academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything — no matter how well-intentioned — that may undermine the integrity of that process."