Jada Pinkett Smith has questioned whether Hollywood figures from ethnic minority backgrounds should boycott this year’s Oscars over diversity.
Writing on Twitter, the star of The Matrix Reloaded, Collateral and Magic Mike XXL expressed her disappointment at the Academy’s failure to nominate non-whites for any of the major prizes at next month’s event for the second year running. The hashtag #Oscarssowhite, created last year, has once again trended on Twitter.
“At the Oscars … people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards … even entertain,” Pinkett Smith wrote. “But we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of colour refrain from participating all together? People can only treat us in the way in which we allow. With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment.”
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith)January 16, 2016
At the Oscars…people of color are always welcomed to give out awards…even entertain, (pt. 1)
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith)January 16, 2016
But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of color refrain from participating all together? (pt 2)
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith)January 16, 2016
People can only treat us in the way in which we allow. With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment. J (pt 3)
Pinkett Smith is married to the actor Will Smith, who did not pick up a best actor nomination for his role in the film Concussion. British actor Idris Elba was widely expected to challenge for the best supporting actor prize following his Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild-nominated turn as an African warlord in the Netflix drama Beasts of No Nation, while Benicio del Toro (Sicario), Michael B Jordan (Creed) and the cast of NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton also missed out.
Pinkett Smith’s posts had been retweeted more than 30,000 times as of Monday morning. Reaction to the 14 January announcement of nominations remained high over the weekend. Comedian Chris Rock called this year’s Academy Awards, which he will host, “the White BET Awards,” referencing US channel Black Entertainment Network’s annual ethnic minority only celebration of music, movie and sporting talent.
— Chris Rock (@chrisrock)January 15, 2016
The #Oscars. The White BET Awards. https://t.co/8qjLR0uysI
Straight Outta Compton producer Will Packer said the 2016 list of Oscar nominees was “embarrassing” in a lengthy Facebook post after the film’s sole nomination was handed to its white screenwriters, Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff.
“To my Academy colleagues, WE HAVE TO DO BETTER,” wrote Packer. “Period. The reason the rest of the world looks at us like we have no clue is because in 2016 it’s a complete embarrassment to say that the heights of cinematic achievement have only been reached by white people …
“It’s unfair to the performers of colour who sacrificed so much, laid it all on the line AND DELIVERED with their projects this year. It’s also unfair to the white actors, writers, producers and directors who gave everything they had to create career-defining content only to have it marred by the fact that a lack of diversity calls into question the legitimacy of the Academy’s choices.”
On 14 January, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was dissatisfied with the lack of diversity among this year’s nominees. “Of course I am disappointed, but this is not to take away the greatness [of the films nominated],” she told Deadline.
British stars Kenneth Branagh and Kate Winslet also addressed awards-season diversity at the London Film Critics’ Circle awards on Sunday. Branagh described Idris Elba’s Oscar snub as “surprising”, telling ITV News: “I think we have to do something about it.”
Winslet, who won the Academy Award for best actress in 2008 The Reader, said there “probably should have been” more black and minority actors nominated for this year’s Oscars. “Whenever that happens it surprises me.”