We’re moving in the wrong direction: Clooney on ‘white’ Oscar nods

“Think about how many more African Americans were nominated”, citing Don Cheadle and Morgan Freeman’s nominations. But we should have been paying attention long before this.

President of the Academy Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is herself black and a campaigner for diversity in the film industry, admitted last week that she was “disappointed” by the fact that there were no black performers nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress.

He told the BBC: “I t can’t be about box office, because I think black actors and stories along those lines have done very, very well, obviously”. “If you look at a movie like “Straight Outta Compton” right and just say it got 1,000 votes and “The Revenant” got 1, 001 votes, is that racism or is it just this is the way the votes went?”

“Creed” co-star Sylvester Stallone, reprising his iconic role of Rocky Balboa, earned a nod, but the film s star Michael B. Jordan did not.

“There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars”, he added.

Ms Isaacs was elected as the first African American president of the Academy, and the third woman to hold the position, in 2013.

The actor also spoke out on behalf of Hispanics, saying it’s even harder for them. “I find it wonderful that we’re an industry that in the 1930s, most of our leads were women”. For one, everyone agreed that breakout star David Oyelowo did an exceptional job as Martin Luther King, Jr.in the film, “Selma” that even host Neil Patrick Harris couldn’t resist addressing the controversy, joking: “Tonight we honour Hollywood’s best and whitest – I mean brightest”.

And she said movies with diverse casts simply aren’t getting green-lighted, much less benefitting from an Oscar campaign.

Director Spike Lee, who was awarded an honorary Oscar in November, is among those boycotting the ceremony, saying on Instagram that he “cannot support” the “lily white” Oscars.

Yesterday, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs issued a statement promising that the Academy would be taking “dramatic steps” to address the issue of diversity among its membership. How the Academy plans on solving its diversity issue remains to be seen, but another report reveals that another prominent African-American actor took issue with the “all-white” Oscar ballot.

Tarek Ziad, also a theater student, says, “How is somebody growing up who wants to be an actor – who’s watching the Oscars – and he’s a person of color or she’s a person of color and they’re watching it – and it’s just white males”. “There is so much opportunity for him to make a statement about this year’s Oscars”. “And all of a sudden, you feel like we’re moving in the wrong direction”, he concluded.

Last week, the nominations were announced for the 88th Annual Academy Awards, and, as is the case in most years, many awards-season favorites were not included.