Charlotte Rampling: Oscars row is ‘racist to white people’

For the second year in a row, the Academy Awards did not nominate a single person of color in any of the four acting categories, prompting boycotts by some black filmmakers and a renewal of the biting hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. The Guardian reports that Charlotte Rampling, a Best Actress nominee this year for her film 45 Years, said the backlash is prejudicial against white people. “The problem is not with the Oscars, the problem is with the Hollywood movie-making system”, the two-time Oscar nominee said at Elle’s sixth Annual Women in Television Dinner.

Asked if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should introduce quotas, a proposal, she responded: “Why classify people? You mean a lot man, don’t do it. Please”.

Last year, Davis became the first black actress to win an Emmy for best actress in a leading role on a TV drama, for her performance in How to Get Away With Murder.

But double Oscar-winner, Sir Michael Caine, advised black actors to “be patient”. People will always say: “Him, he’s less handsome”; “Him, he’s too black”; “He is too white”… someone will always be saying “You are too” [this or that]… “You can’t say “I’m going to vote for him, he’s not very good, but he’s black, I’ll vote for him”.

“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees”, she said.

Davis is not attending the awards show this year, not because she’s boycotting, but “cause I’m gonna be on vacation”. I saw Idris Elba (in Beasts Of No Nation)…

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith have both vowed to boycott the ceremony, and director Spike Lee has also decided not to go, and Reese Witherspoon, Dustin Hoffman, and Mark Ruffalo have all since spoken out on the subject.

Chris Rock is due to host the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles but has been facing calls from high-profile names to pull out.