Why Richard Gere Was Banned From The Oscars For Two Decades

You don't want to miss the Oscars if you love movies, but not everyone gets a front-row seat to watch the event. Even though he's been a Hollywood A-lister for decades, Richard Gere was banned from attending the Academy Awards in 1993 for 20 years because he went off-script during a presentation to advocate for the independence of Tibet — not that being forced to stay in and enjoy his lavish home on Sunday nights was a punishment. But 32 years after the episode, the "Pretty Woman" star finally spoke out about his feelings toward the Academy.

Gere has always been vocal about his connection to Tibet and he's been a close friend of the Dalai Laima for several decades. In the early '90s, Gere and other activists were bothered by the Chinese occupation of Tibetan territory and in one of the most controversial moments in Oscars history, the actor chose to interrupt the Art Direction winner announcement to call out the then-Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping. (You can watch Gere's speech in full below.)

While promoting his new documentary, "Wisdom of Happiness," about the Dalai Lama himself, Gere spoke to Variety about his infamous Oscars ban. He stated, "I didn't take it particularly personally. I didn't think there were any bad guys in the situation. I do what I do and I certainly don't mean anyone any harm. I mean to harm anger. I mean to harm exclusion. I mean to harm human rights abuses, but I try to stay as close to where His Holiness comes from... that everyone is redeemable, and in the end, everyone has to be redeemed or none of us [are]. So in that sense, I don't take it personally." And he's not backing down.

With the documentary, "Wisdom of Happiness," Richard Gere returned to the Hollywood spotlight to share his love for Tibetan culture and religion with the world and to promote the Dalai Lama's teachings to audiences all over the planet. During an interview on "Today," Gere underscored that the Dalai Lama went into exile in his early years because of the Chinese invasion in Tibet, revealing that he's still a fierce advocate of the country's independence. As the trailer underscores, the ultimate message of the movie is that "happiness is still possible, even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty."

Gere returned to the Oscars stage in 2013, along with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, and Renée Zellweger, in a mini-"Chicago" reunion to announce the winners in the Best Original Score and Best Original Song categories. At the occasion, Gere joked to the Huffington Post, "If you stay around long enough, they forget they've banned you."