“And I think we will not just talk, because people will say, ‘well don’t just talk, you gotta do, ‘ (but) talking gets to the doing, and we are going to do… You can not win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there”.
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After members of the Academy neglected to nominate black actors in any of the major acting categories for the second consecutive year, Davis says there are some questions Academy voters should be asking themselves like, “How many Black films are being produced every year?”
Witherspoon won a Best Actress Oscar in 2005 for her role in Walk the Line and received a nomination at last year’s Academy Awards for her role in Wild.
“There’s loads of black actors. You can walk across the campuses of all the studios and never really see anyone of colour and it’s something that the industry needs to correct”, he said. “That’s the problem. You can change the Academy, but if there are no black films being produced, what is there to vote for?”
He also co-signed actor Idris Elba.
“We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together”.
Actors Mark Ruffalo and Dustin Hoffman have backed colleagues boycotting the Oscars, while Quincy Jones has demanded to “speak for five minutes on the lack of diversity” at the ceremony, or he will refuse to fulfil his role as a presenter.
Hollywood is now howling at the lack of diversity and many black superstars like Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith are talking about boycotting the Oscars.
She also left it up to host Chris Rock to decide if he should drop out of hosting this year’s Oscar’s show.
“There’s always a tendency, it seems, to label things and speak out against things, but I want to make it clear that I’m not against the mainstream”, he said.
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April Reign, a former Howard County resident and managing editor of the website Broadway Black, has once again brought one of Hollywood’s most debated issues to light – all with a 13-letter hashtag.
