Why Natalie Portman Won't Be At The 2017 Oscars

In a bit of late-breaking news on Saturday, Natalie Portman will not attend the 2017 Oscars. There's no cause for concern, thankfully. Portman has chosen to not only sit out the Spirit Awards, which will be held on the Saturday evening before the Oscars, but will also sit out the 89th annual Academy Awards too. Portman gave the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter to explain her choice to not attend the Oscars:

Due to my pregnancy, I am unable to attend the Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards. I feel so lucky to be honored among my fellow nominees and wish them the most beautiful of weekends.

Portman, who is nominated for Best Actress for her work as the eponymous Jackie, is currently in the last months of her second pregnancy. The news she was expecting her second child broke back in September 2016, when she arrived at the Venice Film Festival premiere of her film Planetarium already beginning to show. She has been diligent since the release and subsequent critical praise of Jackie to attend various awards shows and red carpet events; it is fair to say that Portman's, now heavily pregnant, absence is more than understandable.

The sheer craziness (although hopefully a good kind of crazy) that imaginably comes with attending an Oscars ceremony sounds hectic when you're not close to giving birth. But when you're, at minimum, six months pregnant like Portman currently is, that just sounds like a no-win situation.

It's not tough to understand that after a few months of dutifully attending other awards shows and press junkets to promoted Jackie, Portman decided to hang back from the tiring task of getting all dolled up, walking the red carpet, doing tons of interviews, and sitting in those tight Dolby Theatre seats for hours on end.

Prioritizing a pregnancy over an ostensibly optional commitment seems to be a trend these days — a trend I highly commend, mind you. Portman joins fellow pregnant celebrity Beyoncé in hanging back from an intense job commitment in order to take care of her children. Beyoncé recently pulled out of Coachella, because by the time the 2017 music festival rolls around, she will be very pregnant with twins.

There's no doubt in my mind that even though Portman is hanging back, she'll still have an amazing night at home. I mean, what's better than watching the Oscars in your pajamas with tons of good snacks? Absolutely nothing, that's what.