History Main / AwardCategoryFraud

* Although he didn't receive an Oscar nomination, Dev Patel was notably nominated for Best Supporting Actor by the SAG awards for his work in ''SlumdogMillionaire'', even though he was clearly considered to be the film's primary character. However, he was nominated for Best Actor by the BAFTAs.

* Cate Blanchett was nominated in the Supporting Actress category for ''Notes on a Scandal'', even though some believed her to be just as vital to the story as Judi Dench's character.

* ''BrokebackMountain'' gives a lot of screentime to both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal's character, as the film covers their romance and how their lives drift off in parallel fashion during their years apart. As such, one could argue that the two characters are equally important to the story as protagonists (with Ledger's performance perhaps getting just a bit more of emphasis). However, Gyllenhaal was put in the Supporting category all through the awards season.

* NicoleKidman won Best Actress for ''Film/TheHours'', an ensemble piece with no clear lead,

* JethroTull won the 1989 Grammy for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental". Their competitors included Metallica and FaithNoMore. Tull frontman IanAnderson, who didn't attend the ceremony, said later that Tull likely won due to the fact that they'd never won a Grammy before despite being around and well-regarded for so long, and that there was "no way I could have accepted it under those circumstances." Controversy over this award led to the separation of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal into two separate categories.

Wherein the significance of a person's role (typically in a feature film) is downgraded. This is typically done when an actor or actress has been met with praise for their role, but have some industry shortcoming (ie. acting newcomer, young, first-time nominee, etc.) that would prevent them from receiving awards. So, in order to increase their chances at winning gold, they are entered into the awards races in (what are for some reason seen as) lesser categories in the supporting roles.

* Creator/AnthonyHopkins set the record for shortest performance to win a Lead Actor Oscar when he won for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', which some considered to be a supporting role.

* JethroTull won the 1989 Grammy for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental". Their competitors included Metallica and FaithNoMore. Tull frontman IanAnderson, who didn't attend the ceremony, said later that Tull likely won due to their long and successful history with no Grammys yet won, and that there was "no way I could have accepted it under those circumstances." Controversy over this award led to the separation of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal into two separate categories.

* JethroTull won the 1989 Grammy for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental". Their competitors included Metallica and FaithNoMore. Tull frontman IanAnderson, who didn't attend the ceremony, said later that Tull likely won due to their long and successful history with no Grammys yet won, and that there was "no way I could have accepted it under those circumstances." Controversy over this award led to the separation of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal into two separate categories. JethroTull has since gone on to win five more Grammys in the Heavy Metal category.

Wherein the significance of a person's role (typically in a feature film) is downgraded. This is typically done when an actor or actress has been met with praise for their role, but have some industry shortcoming (ie. acting newcomer, young, first-time nominee, etc.) that would prevent them from recieving awards. So, in order to increase their chances at winning gold, they are entered into the awards races in (what are for some reason seen as) lesser categories in the supporting roles.

* CateBlanchett won Best Supporting Actress for ''TheAviator'' despite being the most proeminent female role.

* MerylStreep was nominated for Best Actress for ''TheDevilWearsPrada'', while the clear lead of the movie, played by AnneHathaway, was given no recognition at all.
* NicoleKidman won Best Actress for ''Film/TheHours'', an emsemble piece with no clear lead,

* GeoffreyRush won Best Actor for ''Shine'', despite not having that much screen time.
* AnthonyHopkins set the record for shortest performance to win a Lead Actor Oscar when he won for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', which some considered to be a supporting role.
* Kevin Spacey won Best Supporting Actor for ''TheUsualSuspects'', where he played the clear lead. Some suspected this was because nominating him for his performance that same year in ''Film/{{Seven}}'' would have been considered a spoiler.

* Jennifer Hudson as Effie White in ''{{Dreamgirls}}'' (the role is seen as a lead on stage and had earned Jennifer Holliday a Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Musical)
* Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in ''{{Film/Chicago}}'' (a similar situation to ''Dreamgirls'' where the role is seen as a lead on stage and previously earned an actress a Leading Tony [in this case BebeNeuwirth in the popular revival])

* Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her clear lead role in ''WhaleRider'' at the Screen Actors Guild awards, but was later nominated in Best Actress at the Oscars.

* Hailee Steinfeld's role as Mattie Ross in Creator/TheCoenBrothers' adaptation of ''TrueGrit,'' where despite being the main character (aside from JeffBridges as Rooster Cogburn), and being in virtually every scene in the film, and being praised up and down for her work, was demoted by almost every single film awards association to "Best Supporting Actress".

* Mary Badham was nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as "Scout" Finch in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', despite being the clear main character of the film. Gregory Peck as her father won for Best Actor.

* An odd case: KateWinslet was given many controversial precursor Best Supporting Actress awards for ''TheReader'', and was expected to continue this at the Oscars, but she was instead nominated for Lead Actress, snubbing her own equally-acclaimed performance in ''RevolutionaryRoad'' (Oscar rules prohibit an actor being nominated twice in the same category)

* NicoleKidman won Best Actress for ''TheHours'', an emsemble piece with no clear lead,

* Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in ''{{Film/Chicago}}'' (a similar situation to ''Dreamgirls'' where the role is seen as a lead on stage and previously earned an actress a Leading Tony [in this case Bebe Neuworth in the popular revival])

Wherein the significance of a person's role (typically in a feature film) is downgraded. This is typically done when an actor or actress has been met with praise for their role, but have some shortcoming (ie. acting newcomer, young, first-time nominee, etc.) that would prevent them from recieving awards. So, in order to increase their chances at winning gold, they are entered into the awards races in (what are for some reason seen as) lesser categories in the supporting roles.

!!Examples

* Casey Affleck as Robert Ford in ''TheAssassinationOfJesseJamesByTheCowardRobertFord'' was also nominated mainly as the supporting role.)

* MarlonBrando won Best Actor for playing Vito Corleone in ''TheGodfather'', even though the lead character is Michael, played by AlPacino, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor

* Djimon Hounsou in ''BloodDiamond'', nominated for Best Supporting Actor (while LeonardoDiCaprio was nominated as Lead), despite the fact that the entire story revolves around his quest to rescue his son.