Diane Warren is hitting back at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for excluding three songs from the Oscars broadcast.

On Jan. 30, in a letter sent to all music nominees and obtained exclusively by Variety, the Academy announced that only two of the songs nominated for Best Original Song would be performed. The broadcast would include “Golden” from the animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters” and “I Lied to You” from the  drama “Sinners.”

That means “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams,” “Dear Me” from The Original Documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless” and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” featuring Ana María Martínez will be cut from the broadcast.

As result, in a phone call with Deadline, Warren who is nominated for her song for “Dear Me” said that it was unfair to her and her fellow nominees. She said, “It is my fellow artists who deserve the respect which comes from a nomination, right? Here is how I look at it. Put all the songs on. It is all of us or none of us, and that is what it should be.”

Warren said she faced the same circumstance a few years with her song “I’ll fight.” She noted that Lady Gaga fought for the songs to be broadcast and as such all the nominees were on the telecast. Now Warren hopes the songwriters nominated this year join forces and fight for the same space. She said, “That is honestly what should happen with the other performers (this year). It is basically like crossing a picket line. I wouldn’t do it. If they came to me right now and said ‘You know what? We want you and Kesha on the show but we don’t want Nick Pike and the opera song or ‘Train Dreams,’ I would say ‘No, I won’t do that.’ I did it once and stood up. It is up to these other performers. We all are legitimately nominated and to make a choice like that and throw the other songs under the bus is wrong. I am speaking for me of course, but I feel I am also speaking for the other nominees. It is wrong.”

Warren also noted that she was upset the Academy said the two songs that would be performed were “songs that have played a defining role in their global cultural impact and audience connection this year.” She said, “Who are they to make a judgment call as to what song is integral to what story? If you don’t take all the songs off it is just unfair to all the others. What matters is we were all nominated.”

According to Deadline, the Academy had all the intention to do all the songs in the ceremony had they featured stars likes of Miley Cyrus, Billy Idol and Ed Sheeran, who were all shortlisted. Additionally, they were ready to feature Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande if the two “Wicked: For Good” songs had been nominated.

In 2025, the Academy omitted the five nominated songs from the production and introduced each song through a video package. However, in 2016, which also marked the last time a song nominated for Best Original Song featured an Opera singer, the Academy also cut two songs from the broadcast and soprano Sumi Jo expressed her disappointment on the Red Carpet, stating, “I’m quite disappointed. For me it was very important to perform this beautiful ‘Simple Song #3’ because it was nominated for Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice and the Oscars, and I was really looking forward to perform in front of everybody.”

In a recent interview with Ana María Martínez about the nomination of “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” the soprano expressed her desire to perform at the Oscars. She said, “Obviously, it would be such an honor. First of all, the song is gorgeous and inspiring…It represents classical music, and it represents Latinos everywhere. It would be an enormous honor for all of those reasons and to champion Verdi as well, and the vision that he had.”

Read Related Stories 

• ‘Viva Verdi!’ Song Cut from the Academy Awards Broadcast
• Q & A: Ana María Martínez on the Oscar Nominated Song ‘Sweet Dreams of Joy’ from ‘Viva Verdi’