EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-Winning 'Anora' Director Sean Baker Hit By 'Movie Grooming' Scandal — 'Has the Academy Forgotten He Tried to Make Us Feel Sorry for a Child Abuser?!'
Sean Baker was the toast of the 2025 Oscars thanks to his film 'Anora.'
March 7 2025, Published 10:00 a.m. ET
Oscar winner Sean Baker is the toast of Hollywood – but he's left movie fans disgusted after making a flick about a child groomer.
Many viewers say they didn’t get to end of his 2017 movie, Red Rocket, which tackled the controversial storyline of washed up 40-something-year-old porn star trying to convince a 17-year-old girl to run away with him so they can make a fortune together in X-rated flicks, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
And movie fans are now pointing out that clearly didn't count against the filmmaker as he picked up four Oscars for Anora.
Baker could face a huge backlash against his resurfaced 2017 flick.
Red Rocket sees sleazy former adult performer Mikey, played by Simon Rex, meet donut shop worker Strawberry (Suzanna Son), and ruthlessly tries to drag her into his world of porn movies.
One film fan said: "The Academy seems to have forgotten Red Rocket, where Baker tried to make us feel sorry for a child abuser. That wasn't entertainment. It was just plain wrong."
And one reviewer wrote: "Child Grooming is a fitting alternate title for Red Rocket. I struggled mightily with Red Rocket as I screened it and am still struggling with it as I sit here writing this.
"I couldn’t get past the ick factor of child grooming that is Red Rocket’s focus. There are some funny moments, like the full-frontal shot of Mikey as he walks into the living room of his new abode, right in front of his mother-in-law.
"As funny as the movie can be, though, those moments clash catastrophically with the overall tone and subject matter."
One critic said Baker, who has cited Italian eroticism and sexploitation films of the 1970s as his inspiration for Red Rocket, luxuriates in Mikey’s single-minded carnal obsession with Strawberry.
They added: "That’s what makes it so disgusting."
Another movie fan said about the flick: "The predatory nature of Mikey really threw me for a loop. I had to stop the screening."
Mikey Madison was Baker's muse in Anora.
Others were far from happy with Anora's haul of gongs at the 2025 Oscars.
Demi Moore's "furious" one-word reaction to missing out on her first ever Oscar was highlighted by us at the weekend.
RadarOnline.com confirmed lip reader Nicky Hickling had analyzed one of the most controversial moments of the 2025 ceremony, when the heavily-tipped star, 62, lost out to Mikey Madison, 25, for the Best Actress gong for Anora.
Hickling said: "Demi says 'nice' – but she isn't smiling when she says it.
"Her body is almost nodding like she had to force herself to say it."
A source added Moore was "obviously furious" and her one-word response was a "sarcastic take on the gong decision."
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Moore faced off against Madison, Fernanda Torres, Karla Sofia Gascon, and Cynthia Erivo for the coveted best actress award.
In the build up to the Oscars ceremony, she picked up both a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her role in Substance and was favourite to do likewise at the Oscars.
