By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Half a year after his death, Chadwick Boseman was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award on Monday for his final performance in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
The nomination for best actor was widely expected but still historic. Boseman is the first Black performer ever nominated posthumously for an Oscar. He was nominated alongside Steven Yeun ("Minari"), Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Anthony Hopkins ("The Father") and Gary Oldman ("Mank").
Only six actors have previously been nominated after their death: James Dean, Spencer Tracy, Peter Finch, Ralph Richardson, Massimo Troisi and Heath Ledger. Two ultimately won: Finch for his performance in 1976's "Network" and Ledger for 2008's "The Dark Knight."
Jeanne Eagels is also often cited as a posthumous nominee at the second Academy Awards for her performance in the 1929 film "The Letter."
Many predict Boseman will also win for a performance that's been called the best of his life. Last month, he also won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama. Boseman's widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf.
Boseman died last August of colon cancer at age 43. Three months later, the August Wilson adaptation "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" was released by Netflix. Boseman plays Levee, the ambitious trumpeter whose dreams end tragically during a recording session with Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) at a white-owned record label.
Boseman also performed in Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" as a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam War — a performance that has also found awards attention. Boseman was nominated posthumously by the Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performances in both "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and his supporting turn in "Da 5 Bloods."
After his death, none of Boseman's collaborators on either film said they knew he was ailing. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2016.
It's Boseman's first Oscar nomination.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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