According to TMZ, the cast – which includes newcomers O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Jason Mitchell and Corey Hawkins – was not invited to the awards ceremony on February 28.
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The US rapper and actor, whose role in pioneering hip-hop group NWA was the centre on box office hit Straight Outta Compton, was left out in the cold despite the film receiving a Best Screenplay nod. Filmmaker Spike Lee and actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have already announced they won’t attend in protest.
This year, “Universal Picture” bagged four Academy nominations including one for Straight Outta Compton’s four writers, Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus, who are white, for the movie’s screenplay.
It is the second year in a row that not a single black, Asian or ethnic minority actor has been nominated for an Oscar. There have been calls for boycotts, a multitude of think pieces discussing the state of minorities in film, and questionable statements on the subject made by folks on both sides of the aisle.
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Oscar is wiping his hands clean – the Motion Picture Academy denies having anything to do with the “Straight Outta Compton” cast not even getting invited to the ceremony. Either way, if it was a mistake and the cast and crew are invited, or if the Academy reverses courses and does extend an invite, don’t expect Ice Cube to be there. So far, the movie has grossed more than $162 million worldwide.
