Smith then talked on BBC Radio 1’s “Breakfast Show” earlier this week and he said that he was actually in Thailand when his wife did the video.
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Heading into awards season, some expected Smith to receive a Best Actor nod for his performance in Concussion.
Smith goes on to say that he understands that this is not just about an awards ceremony.
“Maybe it is time we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities, into our programs and we make programs for ourselves…that acknowledge us in ways we see fit, that are just as good as the so-called mainstream ones…begging for acknowledgment or even asking diminishes dignity and diminishes power”.
She was so passionate about her stance that she published her video announcement to her Facebook followers before she told her husband.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the organization behind the Academy Awards) nominates and awards Oscars to actors, actresses and filmmakers based on the quality of their performance.
Calling African Americans “one of the largest movie going audiences”, the congressmen write, “We therefore believe a continuing failure to recognize such an important segment of the population by the industry in general and the Academy in particular may have a negative effect on competition and diversity in this critical market place”.
“It always does”, Smith said.
In his BBC interview Wednesday, Smith also said his wife’s decision to boycott the Academy Awards was news to him.
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Speaking further, he said, “I got in the auto and Googled and watched the video”, he said. I had no idea and I’m like, ‘Babe, you gotta give a fellow a little heads up, you know?
