If this was the Academy’s way of addressing controversy around the film’s omission of violence against women, then they still didn’t make up for it by nominating any Black actors, actresses or directors.
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Across the acting categories, all 20 nominees are white. Director and cowriter Ryan Coogler and lead actor Michael B. Jordan were nowhere to be found.
Elba was nominated by BAFTA, SAG-AFTRA and the Golden Globes for his performance as an African warlord in Beasts, and Del Toro, a past Oscar victor for Traffic, was nominated by BAFTA for Sicario.
The film – a biopic of hip hop group N.W.A – was widely praised by critics and had been expected to sweep the board when the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced on Thursday (14.01.16).
Tim Gray, awards editor at Variety, told INSIDE EDITION: “After last year, I have to admit I was surprised by the lack of diversity this year”.
But protests flared anew past year when the civil rights drama “Selma”, despite widespread praise for director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo, was nominated only for best picture and best original song.
The Academy had already come in for heavy criticism for a lack of diversity at last year’s Oscars at which all the acting slots went to white performers.
Many Twitter users voiced their opinions using the hashtag #Oscarssowhite, which originally debuted previous year when Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris commented that they were honouring the “best and whitest” at the 2015 ceremony.
Samuel L. Jackson, who stars in The Hateful Eight, as well as Will Smith, who stars in Concussion, also failed to get a nod in the acting category.
“Straight Outta Compton”, “Carol” and directors Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg were left wanting when the nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were revealed Thursday.
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The AMPAS voting body is 92 per cent white, according to a 2012 analysis of who’s doing the Oscar voting.
