Film director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith have said they will not attend next month's Oscars ceremony because of the mostly white nominee

[superbeets]

Film director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith have said they will not attend next month's Oscars ceremony because of the mostly white nominees.

Lee said on Instagram he "cannot support" the "lily white" awards show.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs has praised the "wonderful work" of the nominees but said she was "heartbroken" at the lack of diversity.

This is the second year in a row there have been boycott calls, sparked by a list of nominees that is mostly white.

Among those overlooked were the NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton for best picture and Will Smith for best actor in NFL film Concussion.

His wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, said in a video message on Facebook that she would not attend.

"Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power," she said.
"And we are a dignified people and we are powerful."

She and Lee made their announcement on Martin Luther King Jr Day, a national holiday in the US to remember the civil rights leader.

"Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all," said Lee. "We can't act?!"

 

[superbeets]

[h=2]Black lead acting winners[/h]

• 2006 - Forest Whitaker
• 2004 - Jamie Foxx
• 2001 - Denzel Washington
• 2001 - Halle Berry, the only female best actress in leading role
• 1963 - Sidney Poitier

Last year, there were similar calls to boycott the ceremony but Lee and Pinkett Smith are the first high-profile figures to carry out the threat.


Neil Patrick Harris presented the show and the audience figures were down 16% to a six-year low.


The president of the Academy, which picks the contenders, said she was "heartbroken and frustrated" at the lack of inclusion.


"We need to do more, and better and more quickly," said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African-American to hold the role. She promised a review of membership recruitment.


Ms Isaacs has also tried to make the show on 28 February more diverse, bringing in black comedian Chris Rock to host.
The hashtag "OscarsSoWhite" was heavily used after Thursday's announcement.


The Reverend Al Sharpton said: "Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get the whiter it gets and this year's Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscar.

 

[hehateme82]

I have an idea for colored folks, make better fucking movies.

 

[Dave007inVegas]

Note to Spike and Jada…


No one cares.

 

[superbeets]

Awards should only be on merit. So the academy is spot on. We can.t accept the bullshit policy of positive discrimination in favour of colour of skin. Colour does not count, ability and achievement counts.

 

[Willie99]

Spike Lee should take the millions this country enabled him to acquire and STFU, if a white man was as racist as he is he'd never work in Hollywood again

Jada is hot and she doesn't talk like a racist, I'll forgive her.

 

[superbeets]

Spike Lee should take the millions this country enabled him to acquire and STFU, if a white man was as racist as he is he'd never work in Hollywood again

Jada is hot and she doesn't talk like a racist, I'll forgive her.

 

[Willie99]

Thank you SB

 

[ShotgunPete]

Maybe they should just schedule this on the night BET has their awards ceremony.

 

[Dave007inVegas]

Maybe they should just schedule this on the night BET has their awards ceremony.

Food for thought.


During a Wednesday morning interview on “Fox & Friends,” Republican front-runner Donald Trump criticized the group of celebrities boycotting the Academy Awards on the grounds they are “too white.”


“I think it’s really sad,” noted the real estate tycoon. “I think it’s a tough situation. I saw somebody on your show today say, ‘well, what do we do with BET?’ Whites don’t get any nominations, and I thought it was an amazing interview. I’d never even thought of it from that standpoint.”

 

[superbeets]

You don't get an Oscar for the color of your skin, you get it for acting out of it.

 

[superbeets]

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I get it. Your husband wasn't nominated so you are not going and are going to sulk instead. But Jada Pinkett-Smith, at your age, you should know better

 

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+6


Will Smith missed out on a nomination for his recent film, Concussion. Unfortunately, the Oscars don't have a special category for 'best black actor giving a mediocre performance in a film about NFL with an angry wife'. If they did, Will would be a shoe-in

 

[superbeets]

Jada Pinkett-Smith released a video (left) announcing she would not be attending the Academy Awards due to a lack of diversity among this year's nominees. Others have agreed to boycott the event and Don Cheadle (right) has joked he'll be in the basement parking cars

 

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+6


Ricky Gervais has led the outraged charge, followed closely by George Clooney who has been quick to decry #OscarsSoWhite, saying Hollywood is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to diversity. Saying anything else is the equivalent of waving a massive Confederate flag over your head, sticking on a KKK hood and declaring yourself to be a screaming racist

 

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Oscars' President, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, (right) says she is 'heartbroken and frustrated' over the lack of diversity this year and is going to make sure this never happens again. But which is worse? Hyper-sensitivity to perceived racism or the certainty of tokenism?

 

[roadreeler57]

I nominate Moms Mabely...

 

[Michelangelo]

I nominate Al Jolson

 

[jimmythegreek]

long live the crybully movement!

 

[roadreeler57]