Golden Raspberry Award

The Golden Raspberry Awards, frequently called the Razzies, is an awards ceremony to recognize the worst in film. The term raspberry is used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry." The awards themselves typically cost US$ 4.79 each, in the form of a "golfball-sized raspberry" which sits atop a Super 8 mm film reel; the whole of which is spray-painted gold.

American copywriter and publicist John J. B. Wilson traditionally held potluck dinner parties at his house in Los Angeles on the night of the Academy Awards, and decided to formalize the event after watching a double feature of Can't Stop the Music and Xanadu. Approximately three dozen people came to the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards. The 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards had double the attendance as the first, and the 3rd awards ceremony had double this number. By the 4th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, CNN and two major wire services covered the event. According to Razzies tradition the ceremony itself precedes the corresponding Academy Award function by one day.

Recipients

 * Thank you so much. I never in my life thought I would be up here.
 * Halle Berry accepting her Razzie for Worst Actress for her performance in the 2004 film Catwoman — reported in


 * He loves me so much that he convinces me to do projects even when he knows that it is shit.
 * Halle Berry at Golden Raspberry Awards, speaking about her manager regarding her role in Catwoman — reported in


 * It's a little cheap.
 * Ben Affleck commenting on Larry King Live about his Razzie for Worst Actor for the films Gigli, Daredevil, and Paycheck, shortly before ripping the award apart on-the-air — reported in


 * I'd just like to say to all the other nominees in the audience, I don't think that I deserve it anymore than the rest of you. I'd like to say that. I don't think that it would be true, though.
 * Tom Green, accepting Razzies for Freddy Got Fingered — reported in


 * I was hoping somebody would invite me. I would've gone and accepted it. That would've been so much fun. My agent probably would have told me not to.
 * Barry Pepper about his Worst Supporting Actor award in Battlefield Earth — reported in


 * I'm sure it would sound better in Latin, but it is truly better to be ridiculed than ignored. Indifference is the enemy and with this Razzie indifference has been defeated. My films are like my children, each special in some way. In the case of 'The Postman,' I was perhaps an errant parent and therefore I am to blame. I wish, like Scrooge upon seeing Marley, I could blame it on a badly digested piece of meat. Alas, the blame rests upon my shoulders and I accept this award with humility, penance and above all, the sense of humor with which it is given. If I've learned anything from the year 1997, it is to not take any one film too seriously. I wish to thank John Wilson and I look forward to a time when the Razzies are given their own proper ceremony and national telecast. The world will be a better place with a few more laughs in it.
 * Brian Helgeland — reported in


 * I had the worst thing happen to me today. I got seven awards for being the worst, and it was more fun than reading the reviews (for Showgirls) in September.
 * Paul Verhoeven accepting Worst Picture and Worst Director awards for the 1995 film Showgirls — reported in


 * I said to my publicist when I got the word, 'I want my Golden Raspberry and if it isn't golden, I'm going to the press.' My publicist called back and said they were upset, that they said they were just a little outfit operating out of one room. They tried to cop out. But if you take a big name and you say 'worst,' you have to perform. So they came up with the trophies and I got them on a show on the Fox network. It was a lot of fun to do, because they weren't serious and had never been called on it by anyone who got a Razzie.
 * Bill Cosby on receiving Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Actor, for the film 1987 Leonard Part 6 — reported in

About

 * When I registered the term with the Library of Congress in 1980, they asked me, 'Why raspberry? What's the significance of that?' But since then, razz has pretty much permeated the culture. We couldn't have done it without Hollywood's help.
 * John J. B. Wilson commenting on impact of Razzies on culture — cited in