[user104658]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Plus if they take his award away, what are they going to do, give it to the guy who came second - which would be a bit **** for that actor, their "best actor Oscar" is really only a 2nd place, or they could give it to no one and have no winner which is also a bit ****

Well exactly, giving it to the runner up is a bit ... questionable ... because that person is left like "Oh yeah I have an oscar but people didn't actually think it was the best performance". And giving it to no one essentially is just admitting that Will Smith did win it... so it's a "yeah we thought your performance was best and you won BUT you don't get the little statue!!"

A bit pointless really. The "flattery" is still there, he still knows it was voted as the winning performance, which is what it's all about really. The actual trophy is incidental.