Los Angeles wildfire has disrupted and affected the lives of many in the California state of the United States. Even the Oscars 2025 nominations are being pushed back again and this time by nearly a week from their original date. As per the latest report by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the nominations will now be announced on January 23.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a joint statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”

With fires still active in the Los Angeles area, the film academy also extended the nominations voting period for its members through Friday. Originally, nominations were to be announced that morning.

The organisation that puts on the Oscars has also decided to cancel its annual nominee's luncheon, an untelevised event best known for the “class photos” it produces annually. The Scientific and Technical Awards, previously set for February 18, will be rescheduled later.

The 97th Oscars will still happen on March 2, at the Dolby Theatre, with a live television broadcast on ABC beginning at 7 pm ET and a live stream on Hulu.

Earlier, the Oscar nominations were postponed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ceremony itself was also delayed, which had happened several times before. The ceremony was postponed by a week because of disastrous flooding in Los Angeles in 1938.

In 1968, it was delayed two days following the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. In 1981, it was put off for 24 hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington DC. The 1981 decision was made four hours before the broadcast was scheduled to begin.

(With PTI inputs)