Awards

Why Was Batkid's Segment Axed from the Oscars?

"[The Academy] decided to pull it," Garfield's rep tells PEOPLE. "Andrew and Miles were equally upset"

Published on March 6, 2014 04:55 PM

The 5-year-old leukemia survivor known as “Batkid” had yet another huge feat on the horizon, following his day of playing a mini-superhero to the city of San Francisco in November.

The child, whose real name is Miles Scott, was expected to appear at Sunday’s Academy Awards, alongside fellow superhero Andrew Garfield (aka Spider-Man), who was scheduled to introduce him to the audience.

But Scott, who was born in Tulelake, Calif., was in for a shock with his family upon arriving at the awards show in Hollywood, where they learned his scene had been cut from the program despite some early rehearsals. Everything leading up to the big day went so smoothly.

What happened?

“In full collaboration with the Academy and the show writer, Andrew prepared a segment for the Oscars to honor Miles Scott as the true hero that he is,” the actor’s rep says. “At some point overnight on Saturday/Sunday morning, it was decided by those running the show that the segment didn’t work in the ceremony.”

The statement continues: “They decided to pull it – Andrew and Miles were equally upset. The producers arranged for Miles and his family to visit Disneyland on Monday and Andrew drove down to visit them and to bring Miles a personal gift.”

Still, the whole situation left young boy’s mom baffled.

“I don’t know if they ran out of time, or if there was something about the segment they didn’t like,” Natalie Scott told The International Business Times. “It got pulled so quickly that we didn’t have a lot of insight into what was going on. It is kind of a disappointment, but things happen. I know that’s how TV goes and how Hollywood is. We’re just not used to that.”

The Academy released a statement explaining, “Hard decisions sometimes must be made which require the Academy to cut segments due to the logistics of production.”

Standing by the popular actor – who was replaced in introducing the superheroes montage by Chris Evans, Jim Carrey and Sally Field – the statement went on to say, “Andrew Garfield understood that his segment had to be omitted. And he drove to Disneyland on Monday to spend time with Miles Scott and his family.”

A source adds, “Andrew really bonded with Miles during rehearsal. They hugged, and the entire room was moved.”

• Reporting by JULIE JORDAN