Robbie Williams’ ‘Forbidden Road’ disqualified from Oscars shortlist

Robbie Williams‘ song ‘Forbidden Road’ from his biopic Better Man has been disqualified from the Oscars 2025 Best Original Song shortlist.

• READ MORE: ‘Better Man’ review: Robbie Williams flick might be the strangest music biopic ever

Better Man, which will be released on Boxing Day, sees the singer depicted as a CGI monkey, and the film tells the story of his life and career – from his early days in childhood 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 track ‘Forbidden Road’ was in the shortlist for Best Original Song.

Now, though, the song has been knocked off the shortlist – no longer appearing on the official Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences webpage for this year’s Oscar shortlists.

Members of the Academy’s Music Branch also reportedly received a letter yesterday (December 20) announcing the song’s disqualification, per Rolling Stone. According to the publication, the letter alleges that ‘Forbidden Road’ “incorporates material from an existing song that was not written” for the film.

An Academy representative reportedly confirmed 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 governors for the Academy’s music branch.

Due to the category’s eligibility rules, tracks shortlisted must only contain words and music that are “original and written specifically for the motion picture.” Per a letter obtained by Rolling Stone, the executive committee “met and reviewed materials” and determined that ‘Forbidden Road’ is not eligible under this criteria.

Representatives for Williams and Fox have not commented.

Elsewhere in the shortlist is Elton John’s and Brandi Carlile‘s ‘Never Too Late’, listed for Elton John: Never Too Late, while Kneecap’s ‘Sick In The Head’ is listed for their self-titled biopic. Pharrell Williams’ ‘Piece By Piece’ off the Lego-film of the same name, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ ‘Compress / Repress’ from Challengers and Selena Gomez‘s ‘Mi Camino’ from Emilia Pérez.

In other Williams news, the singer recently revealed that former bandmate Gary Barlow got an early look at the biopic and his response prompted Williams to soften the way Barlow – who he has had a contentious relationship with – is portrayed in the final edits.

“We had a fractious relationship. In the script, I speak how I thought back then, which wasn’t complimentary to Gaz, and we sent him the script,” Williams said (via Daily Mail). “He rang me and, he’s a grown-up and there was no effing or pointing fingers, and he was like, ‘Rob, I come off worse than Darth Vader in the first half.’”

NME said Better Man “might be the strangest music biopic ever made” in a three-star review, with Jordan Bassett writing: “Better Man begins like a John Lewis ad and swerves into an R-rated hodgepodge that somehow does too much while also barely skimming the surface of Robbie Williams’ career.

“This is ‘Rudebox’ on film: some of it good, some of it very bad, all of it a bit of a mess. Still, the monkey musical is a big swing that no-one else would have taken. You can’t fault the chutzpah or the ambition. If it makes back its reported budget, we’ll eat $110m worth of bananas.”

Williams recently told NME what it felt like to see his life story depicted on film. “Tears. And triggering. And grief. And healing. And ego,” he told us. “And: ‘Look at what’s happened to me!’. It just depends on which version of me turns up for the screening on that particular day – and how much sleep I’ve had.

“At the minute, I just wanna take all of this in. I wanna drink every moment that I can, because I’m now in a place where I can derive joy from life. I couldn’t derive any joy from life for such a long time. And I feel as though I’m getting lucky again and I’m getting another bite of the apple.”

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