Bradley Cooper tells Oprah he was ‘embarrassed’ by Oscars snub

While Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born may have received eight Oscar nominations, the Jenkintown native says he mostly “embarrassed” over being snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the best director category.

Cooper, 44, recently spoke with Oprah Winfrey as a guest on her SuperSoul Conversations series, where he discussed his shame, saying that the move made him feel like “I didn’t do my part.”

“I’m never surprised about not getting anything, but it’s funny you ask this, because I’ve thought about this,” Cooper said. “I was with my friend at a coffee shop in New York City, and I looked down at my phone, and Nicole [Caruso, his publicist] had texted me congratulations on these other things, but didn’t tell me the bad news. And I went, ‘Oh, wow.’ And the first thing I felt was embarrassment, actually. Think about it. I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do my part.”

Despite Cooper’s best director snub, he was nominated in this year’s Oscars for best actor thanks to his work in A Star Is Born, and the film also received nods in categories including best picture, original song, and best actress.

Cooper, of course, may still be feeling raw over an earlier snub this awards season at the Golden Globes, where he lost that ceremony’s best director award to Roma’s Alfonso Cuarón. But, then, so did fellow Pennsylvania-born director Adam McKay, who was up for the award for his work on Vice.

Though he was not nominated for a best director Oscar, Cooper will perform at the ceremony later this month alongside A Star Is Born co-star Lady Gaga. Though, as he recently told E! News, the thought of singing at the awards show isn’t exactly relaxing.

“I’m sure I’ll be terrified,” he said.