Chris Rock speaks as members of the cast and producers of Spotlight celebrate receiving the award for Best Picture at the 88th Oscars, Feb. 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California.
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Turning back to diversity, Rock said simply, “We want opportunity”. People are like ‘Chris you should quit!’ How come it’s only unemployed people that tell you to quit something?
An emotional Smith took to the stage with Napes and said: “I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen and he said no openly gay man had ever won an oscar”. He added, “If they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job. What about the black actors?”
DiCaprio, 41, had been nominated four times previously for an Oscar over a career spanning 25 years.
Jada Pinkett Smith and husband Will Smith, who missed out on a nomination for his film “Concussion,” were at the helm of an Oscars boycott campaign – and indicated they would not attend this year’s ceremony. Dash strode onstage to say, “I can not wait to help my people out”. They continued to discuss the pros and cons as Rock yells back via a computer screen.
For weeks, Hollywood’s annual “biggest night” had been shaping up as Hollywood’s biggest white night after, for the second straight year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shut out any nonwhite acting nominees.
“Us Mad Maxes are doing OK tonight”, said editor Margaret Sixel, who’s also Miller’s wife. You got to go at that the right way. “Hollywood is sorority racist”, he said, referring to how white industry power players politely exclude minorities from their projects.
Kevin Hart can be overwhelming: He has none of Chris Rock’s nuance or modulation.
Rising star Brie Larson, 26, took home the statuette for best actress for her role as an abducted young woman in indie movie “Room” to add to her armful of trophies from other award shows. “We were too busy being raped and lynched to worry about who won best cinematographer”.
The online slogan #OscarsSoWhite – which first appeared past year after the Academy nominated only white actors – was already in heavy use on Twitter before the ceremony.
“In the In Memoriam package, it’s just going to be black people who were shot by the cops on the way to the movies”, he quipped, to gasps and groans from the audience. “The victor for the 18th year in a row is Wanda Sykes”.
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“I’ll tell you what’s a PR problem – spending 2,500 white dollars to save one black astronaut, we’ll all be out of jobs”. The comedian, considered one of the most frank commentators on race in America, hasn’t granted the usual pre-show interviews. While the appeal of seeing Rock face Hollywood’s diversity crisis head on should help drive curious viewers, a long night of dutiful speeches on the issue could turn away others more interested in glamour and celebrity. At the 2-hour mark, another taped bit interviewed black people on the street about the lack of black nominees.
