Will Smith joins Oscars boycott, Ruffalo also mulling

One of the acting nominees joining the boycott would add a new chapter in the backlash that has roiled the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

If he were to skip the awards show on February 28, he would join fellow actors like Will Smith, who just told ABC News today that he was not going. “And I heard her words and I was knocked over, I was happy to be married to that woman but I appreciated the push”.

Mark Ruffalo, 48, is lashing out at the “white privileged racism” that is not only the lack of diversity in the Academy Awards, but in the entire American system, has he put it. So, where does he stand on attending the 2016 show?

Smith praised his wife, who announced her boycott on a video she posted to Facebook. Smith said the film industry is a reflection of what’s happening in America – as the nation deals with serious challenges. Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs has pledged “dramatic changes” to diversify the academy’s membership. “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. “It’s just self-contrived because her hubby didn’t get a nomination”, Hubert said. There’s a regressive slide towards racial and religious disharmony. But Smith said his snub was not the sole reason behind his wife’s decision to boycott, noting Pinkett Smith probably would have still made a video if he had been the only person of color to receive a nomination.

The star of “Spotlight“-and Best Supporting Actor nominee-confirmed in a series of tweets that he’ll be attending, after “weighing” the option of boycotting the show”.

Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee were among the first to announce they would not attend this year’s Oscars after only white actors were nominated for the second year in a row. “We’d still be here having the conversation anyway”.

“If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job”, George Clooney also wrote in a recent piece for Variety, referring to Oscars in quick succession for Denzel Washington, Halle Berry and Jamie Foxx. “This is so deeply not about me”.