Academy promises more diversity after race row
LONDON: Distinguished British actor David Oyelowo has said it is “unforgiveable” that the Academy Awards have failed to nominate a single black artist for an Oscar for the second year in a row.
He spoke out amid increasing outrage at the decision to snub performances from the likes of Idris Elba, who has been nominated for a Bafta, and Will Smith.
Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, has said she will boycott the ceremony on February 28, as will director Spike Lee.
Meanwhile the president of the Academy, who is black, said she was “heartbroken and frustrated” over the complete lack of black acting nominations.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs vowed “big changes” and said the Academy was taking dramatic steps to be more inclusive, such as trying to make its membership more diverse. She issued the statement after an outcry online in which #oscarssowhite started trending on Twitter as it did after last year’s nominations were announced.
This year’s ceremony will be hosted by Chris Rock, a black comedian, but that has done little to quell the anger.
Oyelowo, who was snubbed at last year’s Oscars after playing Martin Luther King Jr in the civil rights biopic Selma, spoke out in Los Angeles before presenting Boone Isaacs with an award named after civil rights icon Rosa Parks. The actor, who was awarded an OBE, said the Academy “has a problem that needs to be solved”.
“For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of colour, actresses of colour, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable,” he said. “This institution doesn’t reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation.”
Oyelowo, 39, who has also appeared in the Oscar-winning The Last King Of Scotland, said the Academy’s decision was especially galling because the new Star Wars movie was currently the biggest film in the world and co-starred John Boyega, a black Briton.
Elba earned Golden Globe and Bafta best supporting actor nominations for his performance in the drama Beasts of No Nation about child soldiers in Africa – yet the prestigious Academy has remained silent.
Others who have been snubbed for Oscar nominations include Michael B Jordan for the boxing drama Creed, while Hispanic actor Benicio Del Toro was overlooked for his part in the thriller Sicario.
Pinkett-Smith said in a series of tweets that “people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards, even entertain, but we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments”.
Her husband was overlooked for a best actor nomination for Concussion, a drama about head injuries in American football. Lee will not attend this year’s ceremony despite being given an honorary Oscar last November for his contribution to cinema.
In 2012 the Los Angeles Times carried out a survey of Academy members which revealed they were nearly 94 percent white. Black members made up 2 percent. – Daily Mail