Jada Pinkett Smith, whose husband Will Smith was tipped for a Best Actor nomination but didn’t recieve one, spoke out after the nominations were released and who released a video post later confirming that she won’t be attending the awards, and won’t even watch from home.
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Smith, who some thought might be nominated for his performance in the football drama “Concussion”, said his decision was “deeply not about me”.
Numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and we at Uproxx, immediately criticized the nominations for turning into #OscarsSoWhitePartDeux, the second year in a row, in which the four acting categories, as well as other key ones, were devoid of people of color. This is about children that are going to sit down… not going to see themselves represented.
Two leading black figures in film, Steve McQueen and Lupita Nyong’o, have added their voices to the campaign for more diversity among the Oscar nominations.
The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), have been accused of being sexist – where the best director accolade always goes to a white male. “And it was her call to action for herself for me and for our party to be a part of the solution”.
Lee said he “cannot support” the “lily white” Oscars, while Pinkett Smith said it was time for people of colour to disregard the Academy Awards.
Changes to the membership process are also expected to be discussed following a Twitter message from Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs.
Smith told GMA host Robin Roberts he felt there was a ” regressive slide towards separatism towards racial and religious disharmony and that’s not the Hollywood I want to leave behind”. They got no niggas nominated. And the conversation continues to grow, as actor and singer Tyrese Gibson recently called for this year’s host Chris Rock to step down.
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He told the BBC: “I t can’t be about box office, because I think black actors and stories along those lines have done very, very well, obviously”.
