Teyana Taylor's risky Kanye West alliance to cost her 2026 Oscars?

Teyana Taylor has left her fans and pop culture observers alike stunned with her latest remarks on Kanye West.

A longtime friend and collaborator of hers, the controversial rapper has been hailed by the current Oscar hopeful as a brother, with her recently telling Vanity Fair that she’s “not going to, like, abandon him and be like, ‘Yeah, eff that motherf*****.’”

“My brothers do s*** that I don’t agree with,” is how the One Battle After Another actress described her definitive stand on the matter.

As Tina Fey once famously claimed on the Las Culturistas podcast, “Authenticity is dangerous and expensive,” Teyana’s timing of addressing Kanye’s situation is therefore unmistakably poor.

Though admirable for the honesty, the singer and actress’s authentic response could prove to be nonetheless costly in her race to the Academy Awards.

Taylor recently took home the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, thanks to her scene-stealing performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film.

With Oscars voting taking off at 9 a.m. PT on January 12 however – barely a day after the Globes – the 35-year-old star’s status as this season’s favourite to not only score a nomination but outright bag the prize is now being questioned by more than a few online.

Elsewhere, Taylor is being compared to one of last season’s most prominent nominees, Karla Sofía Gascón.

The Spanish-born actress, who became the first trans performer to land a Best Actress nomination for her performance in Emilia Pérez, was relentlessly mocked and criticised for her unearthed controversial tweets related to racism and other offences leading up to the Oscars broadcast.

However, despite the uproar and speculation about whether she will be facilitated by Netflix to attend the Oscars amid her scandal, Gascón was in fact invited to the event — even if her chances of winning may have considerably reduced.

It is then worth considering that if the Biden era Hollywood was indifferent to such ‘misdemeanours’, perhaps the ongoing political scenario is hardly worth anything where Taylor’s remarks are concerned.

Inching closer and closer to a wider acceptance of dubious conduct across the board, the Trump-led reality of America has palpably permeated every section of the country’s society, with its film industry likely not being any different.

Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to believe that a heavily political story like One Battle After Another would inspire dozens of winning speeches with similar sentiments from its contenders during the Hollywood of yesteryears — case in point, celebrity statements during Donald Trump’s first term.

And yet, the Brazilian actor Wagner Moura — comfortably a Hollywood outsider — emerged as the only public figure to acknowledge the ongoing volatility of global politics, reiterating the power of “values” in his Golden Globe-winning speech last Sunday.

In contrast, a handful of American celebrities sported barely visible pins, labelled “ICE Out” and “Be Good”, ostentatiously avoiding a bigger responsibility while ‘making a statement’.

Even so, Teyana Taylor’s awards season fate shall be revealed in due time, with nominations for the 98th Academy Awards set to be announced on January 22.