Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Twitter Floored By What Was In Oscar Nominees' Gift Bags—Including A 'Small Plot Of Land In Scotland'

Twitter Floored By What Was In Oscar Nominees' Gift Bags—Including A 'Small Plot Of Land In Scotland'
P. Lehman/Future Publishing/Getty Images; @filmaroni/Twitter
Make us preferred on Google

There are numerous perks to being nominated for an Academy Award.

In addition to taking home the golden Oscar statuette and earning the title of "Academy Award nominee"—or better yet "Academy Award winner"—nominees also get to take home luxurious gift bags.


For the last 20 years, the gift bags for the Oscars, known as the "Everybody Wins" gift bags, have been the work of Los Angeles based marketing company Distinctive Assets.

This year, there were 28 lucky recipients of these lavish gift bags which included all the nominees for Best Leading Actor and Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, the five nominees for Best Director, and the ceremony's three hosts, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes.

This year's bags contained 53 items, which were collectively valued at roughly $137,000.

Among the items in the bag were a $12,000 liposuction procedure, $25,000 worth of home renovations, an assortment of high end popcorn and an assortment of tea from The Chai Box.

Scotland also featured prominently among the gifts.

The most expensive item was a $50,000 three-night stay at Turn Castle in the Scottish countryside, complete with a bagpiper welcome and full butler service.

But the item which has received the most attention was "The title of 'Lord' or 'Lady' of Glencoe, along with a small plot of land in Scotland."

As the list of gift bag items circulated on Twitter, people expressed their feelings on these lavish gifts.

Several found the gift bags to be garish, emphasizing how most Americans don't even come close to making the combined value of the items in a year of full-time work.










Joining in on condemning the excess of the gift bags was comedian Ricky Gervais.

After one Twitter user expressed how they wished he was hosting the Oscars, Gervais responded by saying he would immediately point out how the extravagant gift bags were an insult to all viewers who were struggling financially.

He tweeted:

"I'd start with 'hello', I hope this show helps cheer up the ordinary people watching at home."
"If you're unemployed, for example, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn't be as much as the good bag all the actors have just been given."

Failing to find humor in Gervais' tweet was Distinctive Assets founder Lash Fary.

Fary called out Gervais' "hypocrisy" in a statement to Metro, even throwing Gervais' own words back in his face.

“While we do not spend money buying any of the items in our gift bags (much like advertising, this is simply a promotional campaign for brands), the valuation is indeed significant…but not nearly as substantial as Ricky’s recent Netflix deal, the residuals he receives for The Office or his multi-million-dollar home.”
"So if you’re unemployed, take some comfort in the fact that even if you had a job, your salary probably wouldn’t be as much as Ricky Gervais makes for a single episode of After Life."

Many Twitter users were in disbelief a plot of Scottish land as well as a title could be given away in a gift bag.


If being given a title and a plot of land in a gift bag seemed too good to be true, that's probably because it is.

The plots of land are "souvenir plots" where for a price you will be given an honorary title and one to one hundred square feet of land to be advertised as owned by you.

Highland Titles, the company behind these souvenir plots has denied multiple accusations which have called the operation a scam.

But Andy Whitman, a former member of Scottish Parliament, made it abundantly clear in a letter addressed to the gift bag recipients that Highland Titles has no legal claim to offer them either the title or the land they appear to have received.

"First and foremost, you are not the owner of any land in Scotland despite what this company might have led you to believe."
"You have also not been given any right to style yourself Lord or Lady of Glencoe."
"Highland Titles has no authority or power to bestow such a title on you."
"You have a piece of paper (several probably) with impressive sounding claims and illustrations."
"They remain just pieces of paper, however and provide you with nothing more than that."

When the truth behind the "plot of land" became clear, Twitter users expressed their amusement.


There were others, however, who were not amused by the gift bags inclusion of the plot of land, even finding it insulting.

Lesley Riddoch, a columnist for The National, started a petition to remove the title and plot of land from the gift bags, pointing out how the people of Scotland have famously had trouble purchasing their own land.

“Scotland is one of the last places in Europe where land can be bought and sold on a whim with no questions asked."
“As a result a tiny number of people own the land – fewer today than in 1872."
"This storm in a Goodie Bag reminds Scots why land reform is urgent and necessary – to turn the ownership of our beautiful country into the shared responsibility of Scots, not a trinket to be traded by strangers."

Riddoch's petition has received over 7,400 signatures, as well as ample promotion on Twitter.



Oscar nominees might want to think very carefully before asking to be addressed as the "Lord of Glencoe."

More from Entertainment/tv-and-movies

Paul Rudd
Valerie Terranova/Getty Images for Cunard

Paul Rudd Was Just Spotted Peering Into The Brooklyn Store That's Feuding With Kelly Clarkson—And The Jokes Are On Point

Celebrities: They're just like us!

They get annoyed when they get bad customer service, like Kelly Clarkson, and they get hella nosey when the drama goes viral on the internet—like, it turns out, Paul Rudd.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Lisa Kearns' vandalized mayoral campaign sign
Lisa Kearns/Facebook

Canadian Candidate Goes Viral After Turning Defaced Campaign Signs Into Hilarious Viral Video

After pouring time and effort into a project, seeing all your hard work disrespected can draw justified anger. But a Canadian woman running for political office decided to turn the lemons life—or, more specifically, vandals—handed her into pitch perfect lemonade.

Lisa Kearns is a former city councilor who vacated her Ward 2 seat to run for mayor of Burlington, Ontario, Canada—a city of about 187,000 people on the western shore of Lake Ontario. Kearns discovered several of her campaign signs featuring her photo had been vandalized over the Canadian Thanksgiving (observed the second Monday of October) long weekend.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christina Ricci; Donald Trump
Gilbert Flores/Deadline via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Christina Ricci Just Dropped A Brutal Truth Bomb On A 71-Year-Old MAGA Voter—And Fans Are Applauding

Yellowjackets star Christina Ricci did not mince words after a 71-year-old MAGA voter on Threads vowed to "vote straight Red" in the upcoming midterm elections.

Threads user @janhunterlan, with the midterms just under two weeks away, identified herself as a 71-year-old with an entire family "in California, Texas, Arizona, and Michigan, plus Pensilvania [sic]" that "will be voting straight Red" on November 3.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Talarico; Elon Musk
Sergio Flores/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

James Talarico Just Clapped Back Hard After Elon Musk Said There's 'Something Deeply Wrong' With Him

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico responded after trillionaire Elon Musk claimed "there's something deeply wrong" with him.

Just days ago, news outlets reported that Musk donated $158 million to a Republican super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, in September. The money he donated swelled the coffers of Texas PAC, a group that is backing Paxton, the Texas attorney general. Musk also made a $10 million donation to Lone Star Liberty PAC, another group that has thrown its support behind Paxton.

Keep ReadingShow less
LaMelo Ball #1 of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates a three-point basket against the Detroit Pistons.
David Berding/Getty Images

NBA Star Sparks Backlash After Saying That Changing His Infant Son's Diapers Is 'Not My Job'

It's 2026, but NBA star LaMelo Ball apparently hasn't gotten the memo that fatherhood has moved beyond the 1950s. The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard is catching heat after declaring that changing his infant son's diapers is "not my job."

The 25-year-old made the eyebrow-raising admission during an Inside the NBA interview with Ernie Johnson Jr. ahead of his October 21 debut with Minnesota.

Keep ReadingShow less