God may have created the world, but few Academy Award winners apparently think he had any hand in their success.
The Associated Press reviewed over 750 Academy Awards acceptance speeches over the last 30 years and found that winners are more likely to thank their agent than their maker. Of seven categories surveyed, God has been thanked by far the least by Academy Award winners during their acceptance speeches.
The Academy itself has been thanked most by Oscar winners over the last 30 years. Next in line have been the winners’ spouses, mothers, fathers and children. The winners’ management — which the AP says includes “agents,” “publicists” and “managers” — comes in sixth. Ranking very last is the Almighty.
In fact, of the hundred of Academy Awards acceptance speeches given over the last 30 years, God has only been thanked in 14 of them, according to the AP’s count. Oscar winners thanked The Academy more times last year alone.
Another analysis of Oscar speeches since 2002 by Slate.com found that Meryl Streep has been thanked more times than God during acceptance speeches over the last decade.