Lin-Manuel Miranda, one of this year’s top Oscar nominees, will not attend the ceremony after his wife tested positive for COVID-19.
Miranda shared the unfortunate news on Twitter on Saturday afternoon. She said that even though he tested negative, he will stay away from Sunday’s gala out of an abundance of caution.
“I made it to Hollywood…” the playwright and composer tweeted. “This weekend, my wife tested + (positive) for COVID. She is fine. The kids and I gave – (negative) but out of an abundance of caution, I’m not going to the Oscars tomorrow night.”
“I encourage my families to ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ and ‘Encanto’ with my own family, along with all of you, ALL of you,” he added.
Miranda is vying for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Dos oruguitas” from Disney’s animated film “Encanto,” which will be performed at the ceremony by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra. If she wins, Miranda will have the rare EGOT status, an acronym by which Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony recipients are known.
The creator of “Hamilton” will also miss the first live performance of his popular song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”, as well as “Encanto”, a film about a family in Colombia with magical powers. The addictive theme went on to be the most-streamed song from a Disney animated film in more than a quarter century, beating even “Let It Go” from “Frozen.”
The versatile artist directed “tick, tick… Boom!”, his debut feature, nominated for two awards including best actor for Andrew Garfield.
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