14 Celebrities Who Said ‘No Thanks’ to Major Awards & Honors

Dolly Parton

Back in 2022, Country legend Dolly Parton politely declined her nomination to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Dolly here! Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” Parton wrote in a statement at the time. “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”

“I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again — if I’m ever worthy,” she humbly continued. “This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!”

“My husband is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one,” she added. “I wish all of the nominees good luck, and thank you again for the compliment. Rock on!”

Despite the polite decline, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame kept her name on the ballot and, a few months later, the “Jolene” singer was given the honor.

Dolly Parton (Again!)

Almost a year before the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination, Parton opened up about turning down the highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Per Parton’s interview with Today, she turned down the honor from former President Donald Trump’s honor twice. 

“I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID,” she explained. “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure.”

Tom Cruise

In another act of protest, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globe Awards in a statement against the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, per Deadline. Previously, Cruise had won the coveted award for Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Magnolia (1999).

Julie Andrews

In a move that only makes us love Julie Andrews more, the actress refused her Tony nomination in 1996 on behalf of the cast and crew of her Broadway hit Victor/Victoria. Per Playbill, she announced the news during the musical’s final bows. 

“I have searched my conscience and my heart and find that I cannot accept this nomination, and prefer instead to stand with the egregiously overlooked,” Andrews said as the crowd erupted in cheer. 

John Lennon

The late Beatles member John Lennon accepted the Member of the Order of the British Empire honor (aka the MBE) back in 1965 only to then give it back four years later. 

“Taking the MBE was a sell-out for me,” Lennon once said in a statement. “You know, before you get an MBE, the Palace writes to you to ask if you’re going to accept it because you’re not supposed to reject it publicly and they sound you out first. I chucked the letter in with all the fan-mail until Brian [Epstein] asked me if I had it. He and a few other people persuaded me that it was in our interests to take it, and it was hypocritical of me to accept it.”

“But I’m glad, really, that I did accept it, because it meant that four years later I could use it to make a gesture,” he continued.

Lennon ended up returning the honor in an act of protest against the monarchy. “Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts,” he wrote. 

Michael Sheen

Wales-born actor Michael Sheen initially accepted an OBE title from the British royal family but returned it years later. According to the Good Omens star, his mind changed when he prepared a lecture on the troubled history of Wales and Britain in 2017. 

“By the time I’d finished writing that lecture, I remember sitting there going: ‘Well, I have a choice. I either don’t give this lecture and hold on to my OBE or I give this lecture and I have to give my OBE back,'” Sheen, who first was awarded the honor in 2009, told The Guardian. 

“I didn’t mean any disrespect but I just realized I’d be a hypocrite if I said the things I was going to say in the lecture about the nature of the relationship between Wales and the British state,” he explained. 

Drake

After a bumpy history of feeling under-appreciated by the Recording Academy, Drake withdrew his two Grammy nominations in 2021, Variety reported. Prior to the withdrawal, the rapper was nominated for Best Rap Album for Certified Lover Boy, and for Best Rap Performance, for his song “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug.

David Bowie

In 2000, the late David Bowie turned down Queen Elizabeth’s honor of becoming a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (or CBE), per BBC. 

David Bowie (Again!)

Three years later, the late monarch made the deal even better by offering Bowie a knighthood. Once again, he declined. 

“I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that,” he told The Sun at the time, per BBC.

That same year, fellow singer Mick Jagger was officially knighted by the Queen. “I seriously don’t know what it’s for,” Bowie continued. “It’s not what I spent my life working for. It’s not my place to make a judgment on Jagger, it’s his decision. But it’s just not for me.”

Katherine Heigl

A year after winning an Emmy for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, Katherine Heigl made headlines by not submitting to the 2009 Emmy Awards. “I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination,” the actress said in a statement at the time, per Entertainment Weekly. “In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials.”

Therefore, while she didn’t turn down the honor, she steered clear from even being associated with the award to begin with. 

Sinead O’Connor

Back in 1991, the late Sinead O’Connor made history when she turned down her nominations for the Grammy Awards. “As artists, I believe our function is to express the feelings of the human race–to always speak the truth and never keep it hidden even though we are operating in a world which does not like the sound of the truth,” she wrote in a letter to the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, per L.A. Times. 

“I believe that our purpose is to inspire and, in some way, guide and heal the human race, of which we are all equal members,” she continued. “[The music industry] acknowledges mostly the commercial side of art. They respect mostly material gain since that is the main reason for their existence,” she added. “And they have created a great respect among artists for material gain–by honoring us and exalting us when we achieve it, ignoring for the most part those of us who have not.”

Helen Mirren

While Helen Mirren initially turned down Queen Elizabeth’s honor of a CBE back in 1996, the legendary actress, who played the monarch a few times onscreen, changed her mind when she was offered a damehood in 2003. 

“My parents were very very anti-monarchy and anti-class system,” she told Daily Mail in 2006. “But you’ve got to separate your political views, call it your chip on the shoulder, and just look at the person.”

“I think of all the things the Queen has gone through, the psychological traumas of the war years, ten prime ministers, the same hair even, but she’s had the same values, the values of duty first, self last and that constancy is extraordinary,” she explained. “That’s why she was so thrown after Diana died, and of course, those values she stands for are ones we cherish now.”

“But I think having played an essence of the Queen I’ve lost that chip on my shoulder,” she said. 

Alan Cumming

Actor and LGBTQ+ activist Alan Cumming once accepted the OBE in 2009 from Queen Elizabeth. Last year, he chose to give it back.

“I returned my OBE,” Cumming said in a statement on Instagram. “Fourteen years ago, I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday honors list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA.'”

After years of reflection, however, the Scottish actor’s relationship with the monarchy changed. “The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes,” he explained. “Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have been associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire).”

“So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place,” he added. “I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again.”

Stephen Hawking

The late British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking also took a stand when turning down the Queen’s honors. According to Metro, Hawking was offered a knighthood in the 90s but refused because he felt that the UK government did not provide enough funding for the sciences. 

Marlon Brando

In one of the most notorious award denials of all time, Sacheen Littlefeather took the stage in 1972 to reject the Best Actor award in the name of Marlon Brando at the Academy Awards.

“I’m representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwards, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award,” Littlefeather said in her speech. “And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee.” 

George C. Scott

Two years earlier, in 1970, actor George C. Scott also took a stand and rejected his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Patton. Per the L.A. Times, Scott was notoriously against the awards, calling it “a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons.”