Oscar boycott call drives wedge in Hollywood

Rampling told France’s Europe 1 radio on Friday that, while it is impossible to know for sure, “maybe the black actors didn’t deserve to be in the final stretch”.

“I regret that my comments could have been misinterpreted this week in my interview with Europe 1 Radio”, said Rampling, who is nominated for a Best Acting award for the film “45 Years”. Adding on to that, Rampling said that she meant to say that in an ideal world, every performance will be given equal opportunities for consideration.

“Diversity in our industry is an important issue that needs to be addressed”, Rampling told CBS.

The simmering controversy over this year’s all-white list of Oscar nominees has created a wedge in Hollywood that’s casting some actors and producers as defenders of the Motion Picture Academy’s choices against those calling for a boycott.

‘In the end you can’t vote for an actor because he’s black.

Reese Witherspoon posted a message of support to the campaign for Oscars diversity, writing: ‘I really appreciated this article in TIME on the lack of racial and gender diversity in this year’s Oscar nominations. “People will always say: “Him, he’s less handsome”; “Him, he’s too black”; ‘He is too white'”.

Actors such as Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett-Smith previously announced they would be boycotting this year’s ceremony amid the row.

All this year’s acting nominees are white.

Even the Cloonster has got involved, admitting he feels the Academy Awards are moving in the wrong direction with its “all-white” nominations.

The Academy approved a series of “substantive changes” to its rules and organizational structure in an effort to ensure the diversity of its membership amid mounting criticism on Friday. “Of course it will come”. As an Academy member, I would love to see a more diverse voting membership (sic)’.

The Academy announced a new aim to double the number of female and minority members by 2020. Come check me out at #TheOscars this year. Chairman Kevin Tsujihara called the changes a “great step toward broadening the diversity and inclusivity of the Academy and, by extension, the industry”.