Michael Douglas has revived a 38-year-old Oscar debate, telling a talk-show audience that Glenn Close, not Cher, deserved the best actress trophy at the 1988 ceremony. Douglas made the comment on “The Graham Norton Show,” seated beside Kieran Culkin and Naomi Ackie. “She should have won with ‘Fatal Attraction,’” he said of Close, his co-star in the 1987 thriller. He ranked her work in the film among the finest screen performances ever.
Douglas noted that the nomination was Close’s fourth. When Norton asked whether Cher’s win had been for “Moonstruck,” the studio audience laughed. A fan account on X circulated the clip on Sunday in a post that referenced Close’s honorary Oscar. The exchange spread quickly, and entertainment outlets pressed Cher’s camp for a reaction. A representative told Entertainment Weekly that Cher adores Douglas.
The remark carries a personal edge because Douglas stood inside that 1988 night. He won best actor for his role as the ruthless trader Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street.” It remains his only acting Oscar. Earlier in the evening, he and Close had presented Olympia Dukakis with the supporting actress award for “Moonstruck.”
Cher, then best known as a singer and television star, took the lead actress prize for her turn as a widowed Brooklyn bookkeeper who falls for her fiancé’s estranged brother. The performance earned her a Golden Globe and marked her first Oscar win after her second nomination. She beat a field that included Close, Barbra Streisand for “Nuts” and Sally Kirkland for “Anna.”
Her victory drew mixed reactions at the time. Some critics saw a pop icon rewarded for charm, while admirers pointed to the film’s warmth and her command of its comic rhythms. Close, meanwhile, left empty-handed for the fourth time. She has not won a competitive Oscar since, though she has received an honorary one.
Douglas framed his comment as a tribute to a colleague rather than a swipe at a rival, and the laughter in the studio suggested the audience read it that way. Cher’s representative struck a similarly warm tone. Neither Cher nor Close has publicly addressed the remarks.
