The 97th Academy Awards were held just four days after Michelle Trachtenberg died at the age of 39, and many viewers slammed the awards show for not including the Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum in the In Memoriam segment.

Celebrities including Gene Hackman, Shelley Duvall and James Earl Jones were honored during the In Memoriam segment at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, March 2. Meanwhile, Michelle Trachtenberg, who died on Feb.

As in past years, the In Memoriam segment of Sunday’s Oscar telecast quickly became controversial because of the stars who were left out of the montage, notably ‘Gossip Girl’