Oscar for 'Mr Nobody Against Putin' lost after TSA considered it a possible weapon

Pop Culture NewsOscar for 'Mr Nobody Against Putin' lost after TSA considered it a possible weaponThe statuette has since been found and will be returned to the documentary's co-director and subject, Pavel Talankin. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Pavel Talankin on March 15 in Los Angeles.Amy Sussman / Getty Images for Vanity FairShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 1, 2026, 12:58 PM EDTBy Joe Kottke and Corky SiemaszkoAnd the Oscar for best documentary goes back to Russian filmmaker Pavel Talankin after Transportation Security Administration workers mistook the golden statuette for a weapon and removed it from his carry-on bag for a flight to Germany.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Talankin will soon be reunited with the Academy Award he won this year for his 2025 film "Mr Nobody Against Putin," Lufthansa Airlines said in a statement."We can confirm that the Oscar statue has now been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt," the statement said. "We are in direct contact with the guest to arrange its personal return as quickly as possible. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologized to the owner."Talankin was about to board a flight Wednesday to Germany when he was stopped by TSA workers at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. The co-director of "Mr Nobody Against Putin," David Borenstein, posted to Instagram on Thursday that an agent considered the Talankin's award to be a potential danger."Yesterday he arrived at JFK ready to fly home to Europe, carrying the Oscar as a carry-on," Borenstein wrote. "I snapped the first picture here of him on his way out. At the airport, a TSA agent stopped him and said the Oscar could be used as a weapon. She wouldn’t let him carry it on board." “You have to check it under the plane," they said, Talankin told Deadline.The eight-pound statuette was bubble-wrapped and placed into a cardboard box destined f...