Did you know ABC can just straight up cancel the Oscars whenever they want? Apparently so, and that allegedly came close to happening. The Hollywood Reporter delved into the Oscars’ controversial announcement that eight awards won’t be presented live this year, which has sparked backlash. But it could have been a lot worse, as a source claimed “ABC had warned the Academy that it would cancel the Oscars telecast, via a clause in the Academy and ABC’s deal for the Oscars’ broadcasting rights, if 12 categories were not removed from the show.” This source said, “We were told we’d have to sacrifice something or we were going to lose the whole show.” The Reporter says, though, that the current plan to not present eight awards live, rather than simply cutting half of them, satisfied ABC, which has been determined to make room for more “ratings-drivers” in the ceremony. After all, who needs to honor crafts like editing and score when you can spend that time on what movies are really about: Glenn Close dancing to “Da Butt.”