‘Better Man’s Robbie Williams Says “I’m On The Other Side” After Song’s Disqualification From Oscar Shortlist – Golden Globes Red Carpet

Antonia Blyth and Anthony D'Alessandro

5 January 2025 at 7:38 pm·1-min read

When it comes to Robbie Williams’ ditty “Forbidden Road” from his biopic Better Man getting pulled from the Oscar original song shortlist, the British pop crooner is over it.

Williams is here at the Golden Globes tonight as “Forbidden Road” is nominated in the Original Song at the ceremony.

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“Listen, the rules is the rules and you have to go by them. It would have been a nice, but as an introvert, it’s another party I don’t have to go to,” Williams tells Deadline about AMPAS kicking the single off its 15 song shortlist.

“I went through it, I’m on the other side,” says Williams.

“Forbidden Road,” which Williams co-wrote with Freddy Wexler and Sacha Skarbek, was disqualified as it sounded similar to the song “I Got a Name” written by AMPAS Board of Governor Charles Fox and Normal Gimbel for the 1973 feature The Last American Hero. AMPAS decided not to backfill the shortlist with another song despite its fumble in selecting “Forbidden Road” in the first place.

Better Man is currently in limited release and goes wide on Jan. 17. The pic is directed by The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey. Better Man follows the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of Williams. The movie is 91% certified fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes and has an audience score of 97%.

Better Man remains shortlisted for Visual Effects (Williams visually is portrayed as a chimpanzee in the film), one of ten finalists for the eventual five nominations in that category.

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