Rachel Zegler Liked A Tweet Calling The Oscars Out For Lack Of Latinx Representation After Revealing She Wasn’t Invited To The Ceremony Despite “West Side Story” Having 7 Nominations

Rachel Zegler has found herself at the center of public attention after revealing she wasn’t invited to this year’s Academy Awards — otherwise known as the Oscars — despite costarring in one of the most nominated films, West Side Story.

Rachel plays the leading role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the 1957 stage musical, alongside Ansel Elgort, who portrays Tony.

Ever since its release, West Side Story has been met with large critical acclaim and glowing reviews. It was no surprise to fans that it bagged seven nominations at this year’s Oscars, in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Sound.

However, fans were shocked to learn that despite playing one of the leading characters in the movie, Rachel hadn’t actually been invited to attend the prestigious award show.

Revealing the news herself, Rachel directly responded to an Instagram user who asked what she was planning on wearing to the event. “i’m not invited so sweatpants and my boyfriend’s flannel,” she wrote, before elaborating in a second comment: “i have tried it all but it doesn’t seem to be happening.”

“i will root for West Side Story from my couch and be proud of the work we so tirelessly did 3 years ago,” she wrote. “i hope some last-minute miracle occurs and i can celebrate our film in person but hey, that’s how it goes sometimes, i guess.”

She also thanked fans for their “shock and outrage,” before noting that she too was “disappointed” at the lack of invite.

Many users quickly voiced their anger at the apparent snub, immediately taking to Twitter to question why the leading actor hadn’t been asked to attend.

With the outrage quickly blowing up across social media, Rachel hopped onto Twitter on Sunday to thank fans for their support.

“my goodness, folks!! appreciate all the support, i really really do,” she wrote.

But despite keeping her cool and urging her followers to “respect the process,” eagle-eyed fans noticed that Rachel had liked a couple of tweets calling the Academy out.

“@rachelzegler was snubbed and no one can tell me otherwise,” read a tweet that Rachel quietly hit the heart button on.

Rachel, if you didn’t know, is of Colombian descent, and previously told BuzzFeed about her aim to increase Latinx representation in Hollywood, with her leading role in West Side Story being a prime example. “Our movie is a step in the right direction,” she said. “There’s still so much work to be done when it comes to representation in Hollywood for all minorities.”

Meanwhile, the Oscars has long faced controversy around the lack of representation and diversity with its award winners. In fact, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was widely popularized due to the Academy’s repeated history of “snubbing” Black and Latinx actors from their show, several of whom have spoken out about the movement directly, as well as the Academy’s need for wider representation.

With this in mind, Rachel’s revelation that she’d not been invited sparked a growing conversation around the Academy’s history of lacking diversity, with several Twitter users calling it “a white man’s award show” while reusing the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag.

As the conversation evolved, actor and writer Gloria Calderón Kellett noted that ABC — the network that airs the Oscars — recently moved its only Latinx-focused show, Promised Land, over to streaming service Hulu, garnering criticism from fans who felt they’d finally had representation with the program.

While it’s unclear why the Academy didn’t invite Rachel to the Oscars, this unfortunately isn’t the first time that a leading actor of color has been excluded from an event focused on highlighting and celebrating the success of their film.

Last year, Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya shocked fans after revealing he’d not been invited to the movie’s premiere in 2017 — despite playing the main character with an incredible performance, which saw him nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars and Golden Globes.

“On the Sundance world premiere, I was in Atlanta because I was shooting [Black] Panther,” he recalled on The Graham Norton Show last February. “I was chilling, I cleared my schedule. I was like, ‘I really wanna do it.’ And then just didn’t get the invite. I wasn’t invited, so I was just in my bed – someone texted me, ‘It’s done really well.’”

“I don’t ask questions,” Daniel added. “You don’t wanna be in a place that you don’t feel wanted.”

With Daniel and Rachel’s respective situations seemingly paralleling one another, some Twitter users drew comparisons between the two apparent snubs.

But, much like Daniel was, Rachel has been praised by fans for handling the lack of invite with “so much grace.”