Robbie Williams: “Forbidden Road” disqualified from the Oscars

Robbie Williams’ song “Forbidden Road,” from his biopic “Better Man,” has been disqualified from the shortlist for best original song at the 2025 Oscars.

‘Better Man’ sees the singer depicted as a monkey, the film tells the story of his life and career, from his early days as a child to his first taste of success with boyband Take That. Earlier this week, when the Academy announced the shortlists for several categories for the 2025 awards ceremony, it was revealed that the film’s song “Forbidden Road” was on the shortlist for the “best original song” category. The album “Better Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” will be available digitally from December 27th (anticipating the release of the film scheduled for January 1st in Italy). .

Now, however, the song has been eliminated from the shortlist, no longer appearing on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ official web page for the Oscar shortlists. Yesterday (December 20) members of the Academy’s music section reportedly received a letter announcing the song’s disqualification. The letter claims that “Forbidden Road” “incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for the film.” An Academy representative confirmed that the song in question is “I Got a Name” by Jim Croce, written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. The song was the theme for the 1973 action film “The Last American Hero.” Fox is also one of the three heads of the Academy’s music department.