Was an Oscar belonging to Robert Redford found in the rubble of his residence?

A photo representing a statuette in the ruins of a house was widely distributed on social networks. According to Robert Redford’s entourage, this object does not belong to the actor, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

An Oscar statuette, with partially damaged gold plating, found among the rubble. Posted by moviegoers, this image went viral as fires ravaged Los Angeles, including the homes of Hollywood stars. Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini posted this image “heartbreaking” Sunday January 12 on Instagram, specifying to his million subscribers that he had obtained it from his brother.

The next day, on Facebook, this same image was posted more than 5,000 times with the comment “Profile image of #RobertRedford”. “Nothing remains of Robert Redford’s house except his Oscar in the ashes”even has a very popular French-speaking account on X. So, what is it really?

Robert Redford, 88, won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1981 for People like the others (Ordinary People). He received a statuette again, as an honorary title, in 2002. The Hollywood legend is, however, not active on social networks. The hypothesis that he posted this image therefore seems not very serious. The actor, however, has several pages maintained by fans.

“It’s a fake”confirmed a representative for Robert Redford to the American site Entertainment Weekly. The actor “lives in Santa Fe. This is NOT his Oscar.” In 2024, the Redfords sold one of their villas, located in Tiburon, California, to spend more time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to Business Insider. His wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, runs an art gallery there, as mentioned on her official website.

The oldest occurrence of this image of a charred Oscar, found by franceinfo, comes from the social network Reddit. It was posted on Sunday by the Crushingschoolboy account, with the comment “Symbolism”, before being deleted by the platform’s moderation team. “Unfortunately, [cette image] has been removed for violating the following rules. Rule 1: No screenshots or AI-generated images”she specifies in the comments.

What about the stars who actually saw their statuette altered by the flames? “Any Oscar winner whose statuette was destroyed in the fires can contact us”a spokesperson for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told Entertainment Weekly. “We will be absolutely happy to replace her.”