Now Mark Ruffalo, who is actually among the nominees in the best supporting actor category for his role in Spotlight, has said he’s also considering whether or not to attend.
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“Maybe you didn’t deserve a [Oscar] nomination and frankly I didn’t think you deserved a Golden Globe nomination with that accent”.
Will, who was out of the country when his wife made her public Facebook announcement, was blown away when he heard Jada’s words.
Like his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith will skip the Academy Awards amid disappointment with a dearth of minority nominees.
Their protest has sparked a major debate over the lack of diversity both at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose majority white male members vote on the Oscars, and in Hollywood at large.
He said: “There’s a regressive slide towards separatism… towards racial and religious disharmony”. “And I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living and made millions and millions of dollars from the very people that you talk about boycotting just because you didn’t get a nomination, just because you didn’t win”. Everyone is lovely and deserving and is fantastic, but it feels like it’s going (in) the wrong direction… the industry reflects America, reflects a series of challenges we’re having in our country at the moment. This is so deeply not about me. And that’s not the Hollywood that I want to leave behind. And then the industry reflects America.
Earlier this week Jada posted a video calling for a boycott of the Oscars because of there being a lack of diversity amongst the nominees.
The growing backlash has already prompted the president of the Academy Awards, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is black, to take “dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership”. Being left out of Awards consideration is about more than just recognition for a job well done; winning an Oscar has long-lasting cultural and economic impacts.
While the Smiths are bold, they are not the first to speak out on the lack of diversity at what is seen as the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
“We make movies, it’s not that serious, except that it plants seeds for dreams”, Smith said.
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“This is a marriage and I look it as this sort of big, giant multi-interracial marriage but the marriage is in a space where divorce is not an option”, Smith added. “Let’s do our best to keep it in love and keep it in light”.
