Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Crazy Oscar Season Begins With “Star is Born” Cinematographer Arrested, Actor Attacked for Using N Word: What’s Next?

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Matthew Libatique has been arrested in Poland. He’s the cinematographer for “A Star is Born.” According to reports, Police found him stumbling around. Maybe he was celebrating with too much vodka!

Libatique, who officials say appeared to be heavily intoxicated, lashed out after an ambulance was called to tend to his erratic behavior.

The cinematographer then became aggressive, spouted “offensive” words and hit one of the workers in the head, according to local reports.

Well, he won’t do that again.

Last week, Viggo Mortensen, star of “Green Book,” used the N word by way of description. People went nuts. He meant nothing by it.

But this is crazy Oscar season. What’s next? Will we get to nominations without a murder, a trial, a kidnapping? What slur will be uttered by accident? In the current season of say-it-and-you’re dead-to me, this should be fun.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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