Los Angeles, California - It's officially crunch time in the 2023 Oscars race, and Best Actress nominee Michelle Yeoh has found herself in hot water after her recent Instagram post.

The 60-year-old actor is nominated for her acclaimed performance in the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Yeoh has emerged as a frontrunner in the competitive Best Actress category thanks to her victories at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards.

Fresh off her SAG win, the star shared several screenshots on Instagram from a Vogue article titled, It's Been Over Two Decades Since We've Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?

The article, written by Radhika Seth, highlights Yeoh's SAG victory before diving into the troubling lack of representation in the Best Actress category, which has been further highlighted by controversy surrounding this year's Best Actress race.

"This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me... We want to be seen. We want to be heard," Yeoh captioned her post sharing the article.

If she takes home the prize, she will be only the second non-white actress to win in the category in the history of the Oscars.

Though the messages about representation are important to highlight ahead of the ceremony, the first-time nominee's choice to share the post has sparked controversy due to the article's direct reference and comparison to her top competitor, Cate Blanchett.

Yeoh has since deleted the post, but has it broken Oscars protocol and hurt her chances at earning the top prize?

One of the screenshots from the article directly compares Yeoh and Blanchett's odds in the race.

"Detractors would say that Blanchett's is the stronger performance — the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár — but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars," Seth wrote. "A third would perhaps confirm her status as an industry titan but, considering her expansive and unparalleled body of work, are we still in need of yet more confirmation?"

The article continues on to highlight how important a victory would be for Yeoh, who is the first Asian Best Actress nominee in over 85 years.

Though many applauded Yeoh's post for spotlighting the systemic issues that have hindered the success of actors of color in Hollywood, others called the move "messy" at this point in the race.

Importantly, the post also came on the final day of Oscars voting, and some have pointed to the Academy's campaign regulations about directly referencing other nominees.

Fellow nominee Andrea Riseborough's unexpected Best Actress nomination this year for To Leslie sparked so much controversy that it led to an investigation by the Academy. Yeoh's post may fall under similar potential violations as Riseborough's campaign.

Riseborough received a last-minute push for the nomination thanks to an A-lister-driven social media campaign.

One element of the campaign that drew specific attention was a post from actor Frances Fisher that directly referenced Riseborough's competition, including Yeoh and Blanchett, while pushing for the To Leslie star.

Like Yeoh, Fisher deleted the post shortly after controversy emerged.

Riseborough's nomination was maintained after the investigation, so Yeoh's nomination is certainly not likely to be rescinded.

However, it's possible that the post may affect her chances in the race.

Still, many fans have come to the defense of the Crazy Rich Asians actor amid the online debate over the move.

"if andrea riseborough was allowed to have all her rich influen[t]ial famous friends to have a whole campaign to get her nominated michelle yeoh can have an instagram post idc if y'all think it's corny leave her alone," one fan wrote.

"she's right and she has every right to say this. everyone pointing out the specific slide about cate as if she didn't post the whole article that focuses on representation and the importance of this win," another said.

The winners will be revealed at the Academy Awards, held in Los Angeles this Sunday, March 12.