Director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith have both announced that they plan to boycott the Academy Awards this year, as outcry over the nominations – which feature no people of colour in any of the major acting categories – continues.
In a lengthy Instagram post, made on Martin Luther King Jr‘s birthday, Lee said that he and his wife can not support the Oscars this year, and will not attend, adding:
“Dr. King said “There comes a time when one must take position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it’s right.” For too many years, when the Oscars nominations are revealed, my office phone rings off the hook with the media asking me my opinion about the lack of African-Americans, and this year was no different. For once, (maybe), I would like the media to ask all the white nominees and studio heads how they feel about another all-white ballot. If someone has addressed this and I missed it then I stand mistaken.”
In a video posted overnight, Jada Pinkett Smith – whose husband Will Smith missed out on an Oscar nod for his role in Concussion, said that she will also not be attending the awards.
She wished host Chris Rock good luck in hosting the awards, but said said asked if it’s time to accept that “we can no longer beg for the love, acknowledgement or respect of any group.”
Rock himself took a dig at the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations over the weekend, foregrounding the potentially difficult job he has to come.
Story: NY Times
Photo: Steve Granitz / Jim Spellman / Getty
Photo: Steve Granitz / Jim Spellman / Getty
