Silence is golden for big Hollywood stars on Oscar boycott

Will Smith has joined his wife Jada Pinkett Smith in boycotting the 2016 Academy Awards because he would feel “uncomfortable” at the ceremony due to the lack of diversity. “Really, in my plea to ask all communities and people of color to take back our power is so that we can use it in all sectors of our community, and right now, specifically with African-American people, we have some very serious issues that I think we as a people have to move together on”.

They could suggest submitting ten actors, rather than five, for Best Actor, Actress and Supporting Actor consideration. “There is no way for him to seize the moment and come into this thing and say, ‘I’m going to say this and say that I’m going to address the issue but then I’m still going to keep my gig as the host, ‘” the “Fast & Furious” actor told the magazine.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is black, said she was “both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion”.

The controversy surrounding this year’s lily white slate of Oscar nominees continues to captivate Hollywood, leading to boycotts, backlash, backlash to the backlash, and a rare statement from the Academy acknowledging its faults and pledging to increase membership diversity. Another suggestion was a so-called “use-it-or-lose-it provision”, which would require Academy members to vote regularly, or have voting privileges temporarily revoked.

Will Smith told Robin Roberts that he’s skipping next month’s Oscars ceremony in an interview on Good Morning America, claiming the awards are “not reflecting that beauty” of Hollywood as a whole.

“This is so deeply not about me”, he added.

Others, like Oscar winners George Clooney and Lupita Nyong’o, have called for change but have signalled no intention to stay at home. “There’s a regressive slide toward separatism, towards racial and religious disharmony and that’s not the Hollywood I want to leave behind”. That’s not the industry, that’s not the America I want to leave behind. “We’d still be here having this conversation”.