The Barnsdall Theatre, where the ceremony was due to be held, was shut down after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti introduced restrictions on public gatherings to suppress the spread of COVID-19.
- Mar 16, 2020
AceShowbiz - The Golden Raspberry Awards had to be scrapped on Saturday (March 14) as a result of the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers had planned to press ahead with the annual Los Angeles ceremony, commonly known as the Razzie Awards, but the weekend prizegiving had to be ditched at late notice after Mayor Eric Garcetti introduced restrictions on crowd sizes in public to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The limitations led to the shut down of The Barnsdall Theatre, where the Razzies, at which the worst cinema releases of the past year are named and shamed, were due to be held.
John Wilson, co-founder of the awards, explains, "Without a hall, we could not proceed with the show... Obviously, if there is no live show, there is nothing to be streamed, either."
Officials have yet to decide if the event will be held at a later date or cancelled altogether.
Box office flop "Cats", the live action remake of Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical, tied with "Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral" and Sylvester Stallone's "Rambo: Last Blood" to lead the nominees at the 2020 Razzies, with all three in the running for the Worst Picture title.
It's not the only prizegiving affected by city measures implemented to combat the coronavirus spread - also impacted is the 2020 Chaplin Award Gala, where director Spike Lee was due to be honored by officials at New York's Film at Lincoln Center in late April. It is now expected to take place later this year.
