

Donald and Melania (with an uncomfortable-looking Helena Bonham Carter) at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards in 2011. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

By Annie Lloyd

In a further sign of disconnect between Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Cheeto-In-Chief Trump, Spicer claimed on Wednesday that 45 won’t be watching the Oscars on Sunday night. When a reporter asked about the Awards, and why actors and actresses tend to make speeches like Meryl Streep’s at the Golden Globes, Spicer responded with, “I don’t know. It’s a free country.”

Yes, Spicer, America is very free.

He goes on to explain that Hollywood is “generally far to the left,” (the same Hollywood through which Trump gained international fame and recognition), so their thoughts do not represent those of the rest of the country.

Spicer says Trump probably won't be watching the Oscars https://t.co/2ZORRSCflF pic.twitter.com/fgZRmAMwUD — Colin Jones (@colinjones) February 22, 2017

In perhaps a coded reminder to the First Lady about her duties at the White House, he also tells the reporter that the Governors Ball is the same night as the Oscars (it's the First Lady's task to organize the ball). Spicer predicted that Mr. Melania will spend his evening focusing on entertaining our country’s Governors, rather than whatever unfolds at the Academy Awards.

Spicer may think this is a convincing response, but here’s the thing: Trump is obsessed with the Oscars. There is no way he’ll be ignoring what happens on Sunday night.

In 2013, for instance, Trump believed people were logging onto Twitter for the express purpose of seeing his live-tweets of the Oscars.

By popular demand, I will be tweeting on the very tainted Academy Awards tonight! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2013

And in 2014, he got a little political by asking if Obama was in charge of the Awards because they reminded him of the ObamaCare website.

Was President Obama in charge of this years Academy Awards - they remind me of the ObamaCare website! #Oscars. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2014

In 2015, his solution to the “boring” Oscars was to bring him on as host in 2016.

Trump to host #Oscars? #TrumpVlog A post shared by Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Feb 23, 2015 at 8:10am PST

This, of course, didn’t happen, but now Trump is hosting something that's happening simultaneously as the Oscars. One might predict that he'll use the ball's success (if indeed it is a success) as a barometer of respect. His Ball will likely be the Greatest Governors Ball Ever Hosted, whereas the Oscars will likely be a Joke. And perhaps we can expect his rage-tweets to escalate to a further level of narcissism and resentment.

He believes the Oscars are bad and corrupt, yet feels a moral obligation to watch them regardless. Now that the Oscars will likely have a direct response to his status as President (if the other award shows this year are any indication), Trump’s compulsive need to comment and deride the Awards will rear its head. The machinations of Hollywood are Trump’s Achilles Heel. The industry exists for the sake of visibility, and fame and celebrity are the bread and butter of an attention-seeking narcissist, so Trump sees Hollywood as both his ultimate aspiration and his mortal enemy. Until they give him what he wants, Trump will go to the grave negging the entertainment industry.

Annie Lloyd is a writer who runs a blog and newsletter about the history and future of this city, and you can often find her rambling about the L.A. dream over larb at Night Market Song.