Charlotte Rampling on Oscars Boycott: It’s ‘Racist to Whites’

Oscar nominated star Charlotte Rampling has said she was “misinterpreted” when she said it would be racist toward white people for stars not to attend the Academy Awards. She said she wished every performance were given equal opportunity for consideration. Charles Thompson, CEO of the Screen Nation Awards, said the comments were “clumsy” at best, adding: “We now need to move the issue from just being talked about to recognising the need for real adjustment in the industry”. She will compete against Saoirse Ronan, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett and Brie Larson for the film industry’s top honour next month.

An interview between Rampling and CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason is slated to appear during this Sunday’s broadcast of the show. We live now in countries where anyway people are more or less accepted.

“People will always say, “Him, he’s less handsome”; “Him, he’s too black”; “He is too white”.

The 51-member board pledged to double the number of women and minority members in the academy by 2020.

Diversity campaigners called her comments ill-thought-out and “silly”.It follows a week of global debate about this year’s Oscars.

The NAACP held its Image Awards nominees luncheon Saturday morning, and the stars were eager to share their opinions on the Oscars boycott over the lack of diversity.

In an update on the official website of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headed “Academy takes historic action to increase diversity”, organisers say they have taken a unanimous vote agreeing to the changes.

Charlotte Rampling, 69, who is nominated in the best actress category, had said that the uproar over there being no black actors on the Oscars shortlist was unfair to the white actors who were nominated. “Outrageous, ignorant & offensive comments from Rampling”, she posted on her official Twitter page.

“There is no racism except for those who create an issue”, Molen, a voting member of the Academy, told The Hollywood Reporter, US Weekly reported. “Using such an ugly way of complaining”, Molen told The Hollywood reporter Thursday.

“Someone will always be saying, ‘You are too [this or that]’…”