Lee says that it is “no coincidence” that he chose to make this announcement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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Spike apologized to his friends involved in the Oscars production this year – Chris Rock, Reggie Hudlin, and Pres. Cheryl Boone Isaacs – but said he simply “cannot support it”. And let’s not even get into the other branches. “We Can’t Act?! WTF (what the f**k)!!” “And we are a dignified people and we are powerful”. “As I said in my honorary Oscar acceptance speech, it’s easier for an African-American to be President of the United States than be president of a Hollywood studio”. Chris Rock is a great host, and is amusing enough to draw in an audience of viewers who are racially diverse; however, will his choice as the host of the Academy Awards be enough to prevent a potential boycott by African-American actors?
– Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 16, 2016But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments.
This year’s Oscar nominations are incredibly controversial based entirely on the fact that not one person of color was nominated for a major award.
Jada Pinkett Smith has become the latest star to slam the Oscars after the organisation failed to nominate a single black actor for this year’s awards – for the second year in a row.
Well, to lighten the mood, comedian and actor Chris Rock, who’ll host this year’s event, also took to Twitter and voiced his opinion and share a promo video for the awards ceremony. He then declares, “My wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee and I will not be attending the Oscar ceremony this coming February”.
Lee went on to the note that the “real” battle is not with the Academy Awards specifically, but with the paucity of people of color in executive positions.
Lee admonished the Academy in 2015 when he accepted his award, saying, “We can talk, you know, yabba, yabba, yabba, but we need to have some serious discussion about diversity, and get some flave up in this!”
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In a report by Deadline.com, Isaacs said, “Of course I am disappointed, but this is not to take away the greatness (of the nominees)”. Rev. Al Sharpton – who previous year met with former Sony head Amy Pascal following leaked emails that some viewed as racist – on Friday lambasted the academy.
