Stars To Boycott Oscars Over Lack Of Diversity

Director Spike Lee

SEVERAL prominent film-industry figures, including director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith, have spoken about their decision to boycott this year's Oscars due to the lack of diversity in the nominee line-up.


Jada Pinkett Smith

"How is it possible for the second consecutive year that all 20 contenders under the actor category are white? And let's not even get into the other branches," director Spike Lee - who has been nominated for two Oscars in the past and was set to pick up an honourary award by the Academy this year - said. "As I see it, the Academy Awards is not where the 'real' battle is. It's in the executive office of the Hollywood studios and TV and cable networks. This is where the gate keepers decide what gets made and what gets jettisoned to 'turnaround' or scrap heap. People, the truth is we ain't in those rooms and until minorities are, the Oscar nominees will remain lily white."

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs yesterday addressed the outcry in a statement, stating that she was "both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion" and revealing changes that the Academy hopes to make to bring "much-needed diversity" to its membership.



Jada Pinkett Smith with husband Will Smith

The awards will this year be presented by comedian Chris Rock, and the event is overseen by Academy presidents Reginald Hudlin and Boone Isaacs - all of whom are black - but Pinkett Smith asserts that this does not constitute diversity when artists themselves are overlooked.

"At the Oscars, people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards, even entertain, but we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments," she tweeted following the nominations announcement. "Should people of colour refrain from participating all together?"

Pinkett Smith - whose husband Will Smith was nominated for a Golden Globe this year for his role in Concussion, but not for an Oscar - is said to be considering boycotting the ceremony, while many Twitter users echoed her feelings on the hashtag "#OscarsSoWhite", which trended for much of yesterday.

Idris Elba delivers his speech at yesterday's diversity event

Also in the past 24 hours, British actor Idris Elba has lent his voice to the debate around the lack of diversity in the industry, asserting that the situation in film and television in the UK is no better than Hollywood.

"People in the TV world often aren't the same as people in the real world. And there's an even bigger gap between people who make TV, and people who watch TV. I should know, I live in the TV world," Elba - who, like Smith, was nominated at this year's Golden Globes, for his role in Beasts Of No Nation, but has not received a nomination from the Academy - said at an event organised by Channel 4 and attended by 100 MPs. "I knew I wasn't going to land a lead role. I knew there wasn't enough imagination in the industry for me to be seen as a lead. In other words, if I wanted to star in a British drama like Luther, then I'd have to go to a country like America. And the other thing was, because I never saw myself on TV, I stopped watching TV. Instead I decided to just go out and become TV."

The Oscars will take place on February 28.