Russell's Oscar nomination rescinded

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences voted to rescind the sound mixing nomination for Greg P Russell for his work on "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi".

The decision was announced on Saturday and was due to Russell's violation of Academy campaign regulations. It had been Russell's 17th Academy Award nomination. He has never won earlier.

According to an Academy statement, the decision was prompted by the discovery that Russell called his fellow members of the Academy's Sound Branch during the nominations "to make them aware of his work on the film".

This was in direct violation of a campaign regulation that prohibits telephone lobbying, it said. Said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs: "The Academy takes very seriously the Oscars voting process and anything - no matter how well-intentioned - that may undermine the integrity of that process."

The three other members of the "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" sound-mixing team remain eligible for the award. They are Gary Summers, Jeffrey J Haboush and Mac Ruth.

Paramount Studios, which released the Michael Bay-directed film, said: "We are proud of the outstanding work done by Greg, Gary, Jeffrey and Mac on '13 Hours...' and we celebrate their achievement."