About 34.3 million people tuned in for the ABC broadcast hosted by Chris Rock, an 8% drop from 37.3 million past year, according to preliminary Nielsen data cited by the network.
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Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscars Best Actor award on Sunday evening for the film “The Revenant”, and also took the opportunity to discuss climate change as he was delivering his acceptance speech.
DiCaprio had previously been nominated for several other Oscars, including a Best Actor nomination for his work in the 2006 movie “Blood Diamond” and a nod for his producing work on the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street”. “What an unbelievable talent you are”, DiCaprio said of the Mexican director.
“I am very lucky to be here tonight, but unfortunately many others haven’t had the same luck”, Inarritu said, his voice rising above the music that was starting to play. Fans and critics alike expected DiCaprio to win each time he was nominated.
Many expressed outrage on social media and several prominent black celebrities, including actress Jada Pinkett Smith and filmmaker Spike Lee, announced plans to boycott the show.
At Sunday night’s Oscars show, Rock wasted no time getting into the nitty-gritty, posing the question, “Is Hollywood racist?” and then answering it with, “You’re damn right it’s racist”.
Chris Rock is responsible for one of the most brilliantly uncomfortable things that’s ever happened at the Academy Awards.
Picking up the climate-change issue again, DiCaprio said he is as obsessed with the issue as he is with filmmaking, and appreciated having the chance to reach millions of Oscar viewers with his message. “It’s like, ‘We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa”, he said.
“If you want black people every year at the Oscars, just have black categories like best black friend”. Some people call it Creed, but I call it Black Rocky. The supporting actor in a supporting role went to mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies).
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Mad Max: Fury Road took home the most awards with six, although it was shut out of the major awards.
