This year’s Academy Awards ceremony, set to be held Sunday night at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, will have the most intense security presence in its history, to protect against any potential attack by Iran.
Neither authorities nor the academy have said there is evidence of any actual, imminent plot against the ceremony, but they said they are proceeding with the event with an abundance of caution.
Last week, it was reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigations warned police departments in California that Iran could retaliate for US attacks by launching drones at the West Coast. Iran has used drones to attack scores of targets throughout the Middle East amid the ongoing war, and has a history of supporting terrorism abroad.
According to Variety, security for the Oscars is “on heightened alert” in the wake of the report.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the security perimeter for the 98th Academy Awards has been expanded to one mile, with SWAT teams, bomb squads, and snipers on site, featuring a total force of more than 1,000 total law enforcement personnel.
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Meanwhile, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will be actively monitoring social media, the magazine reported.
Workers move Oscar statues along the red carpet ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast on March 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John Locher)
On March 11, ABC News reported that in late February, the FBI had warned police departments in California: “We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran.”
The memo reportedly added: “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the bulletin was one of many security updates the state received from federal partners daily. California, it said, had elevated its security posture since the start of the conflict.
He posted on X that he was “in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials” and not aware of any imminent threats.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks to the press on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
During a press conference last week about the upcoming awards ceremony, executive producer Raj Kapoor said that the academy collaborates closely with the FBI and the LAPD.
Two Israeli filmmakers have been nominated for this year’s Oscars, documentary filmmaker Hilla Medalia for her Best Documentary Short “Children No More: “Were and are Gone,” and Meyer Levinson-Blount for Best Live Action Short Film with his film “Butcher’s Stain.”
Palestinian docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” has also been nominated, for Best International Feature Film. The film portrays the attempts of the West Bank-based Red Crescent to send an ambulance to save a Palestinian six-year-old trapped in a war zone in northern Gaza in a car with her family, who are all dead.
Palestinian actor Motaz Malhees, who played the role of a call center operator in the film, said a travel ban imposed by the White House was preventing him from attending the awards.
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