Since the Oscar nominations were announced last week, celebrities have been responding to just how white the Academy's picks were.For the second year in a row, people of color were shut out of the acting categories, and all of the best picture contenders focus on stories about white people, while films like Straight Outta Compton and Creed got the cold shoulder. Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee were quick to respond, both saying they would not attend this year's ceremony. (Lee later clarified that he did not say "boycott.")
Many members of the film community have expressed support for holding the Academy and the industry accountable for its systemic lack of diversity. Some people have encouraged host Chris Rock to back out. And others have questioned whether there is even a controversy at all.
The Academy, meanwhile, responded to the mounting criticism by announcing changes to its policies with a goal "to commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020."
Click through to see all of the reactions. We'll update this story as more stars continue to chime in.
Spike Lee
The acclaimed filmmaker, who recently received an honorary Oscar, posted a lengthy essay to Instagram saying that he and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, will not be going to the Oscars. He wrote: "We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let's Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can't Act?! WTF!!" Lee, however, clarified on Good Morning America that, while he won't be attending, he "never used the word boycott." He also said that the Oscar discussion is a "misdirection play," explaining, "It goes further than the Academy Awards. It has to go back to the gatekeepers. The people who have the green-light vote."
Jada Pinkett Smith
Smith tweetedthat"At the Oscars...people of color are always welcomed to give out awards...even entertain, but we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of color refrain from participating all together?" In a Facebook video, she said that she will not be attending or watching the show. "The Academy has the right to acknowledge whomever they choose, to invite whomever they choose, and now I think that it is our responsibility now to make the change," she said. "Maybe it is time that we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities, into our programs, and we make programs for ourselves that acknowledge us in ways that we see fit that are just as good as the so-called mainstream ones." She also expressed support for Chris Rock, and later tweeted her thanks to Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs for her response.
Janet Hubert
Hubert, who played Vivian Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, criticized Pinkett Smith for her comments, and claimed that Pinkett Smith was speaking out because her husband, Will, was not nominated for Concussion. Hubert argued that there are more serious issues for the Black community than the Oscars, and that asking actors to boycott the ceremony is asking them to "jeopardize their careers."
Cheryl Boone Isaacs
On January 18, the Academy president issued a statement via Twitter in which she said she is "both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion" and that the Academy is "taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership."
The Academy then announced on January 22 new measures to diversify, with a goal of "doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020." To do so, the Academy has altered how members can achieve "lifetime voting rights." Now, new members will get "voting status" for 10 years. That status will only be renewed if the "member has been active in motion pictures during that decade." The "lifetime rights" will be awarded after three 10-year terms, or if a member has won or been nominated for an Oscar. Current members who are not "active" will be deemed "emeritus" members and will not be able to vote. There will also be three new governor seats on the Board of Governors, and new members added to executive and board committees.
Michael Moore
Moore told The Wrap he would be "happy" to join a boycott. "I thought about this all day, and I don’t plan to go to the show, I don’t plan to watch it and I don’t plan to go to an Oscar party," he said. “And I say that as a proud member of the Academy, as someone who still sits on the executive board [of the Documentary Branch], as someone who knows full well that [AMPAS president] Cheryl [Boone Isaacs] and [CEO] Dawn [Hudson] are doing their best to fix the situation.”
Will Smith
Smith joined his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in saying that he would not be at the ceremony this year. "We're part of this community but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is okay," he said in an interview with Good Morning America.
David Oyelowo
Oyelowo commented on the situation at a gala where Cheryl Boone Isaacs was being honored. He said, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "This institution doesn’t reflect its president and it doesn’t reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn’t reflect me, and it doesn’t reflect this nation." Oyelowo remained positive, however. "The Oscars is on February 28. Cheryl needs us to pray that by that date, change is going to come. We need to pray for Cheryl, we need to support Cheryl, we need to love Cheryl. We cannot afford to get bitter, we cannot afford to get negative. But we must make our voice heard." Oyelowo was snubbed by the Oscars in 2015 for his work in Selma.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop issued a harshly worded message to the Oscars on Instagram. Is he going to watch? "Fuck no," he said.
Lupita Nyong'o
The 2014 Best Supporting Actress winner posted an image to Instagram in which she explained that she is "disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year's Academy Awards nominations." She said: "I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of the people who tell them."
Whoopi Goldberg
The women of The View got into it on their show, and Goldberg took the position that a boycott would be counterproductive. "To boycott [Rock] seem just as bad as what everyone's saying," she said. Goldberg was also frustrated that the conversation only springs up during awards season. "You can't bitch about it just on Oscar time," she said.
George Clooney
In a statement published in Variety, Clooney argued that the Academy's acceptance of diversity has gotten worse over time. "If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African-Americans were nominated," he said. Clooney, however, has faced criticism given that the movies he has made have not been particularly diverse.
Mark Ruffalo
A star of the ode to good journalism, Spotlight, Ruffalo is one of the few acting nominees this year to comment on the situation. Asked by the BBC if he would go to the ceremony, he said he was "weighing" not attending. He clarified on Twitter that he "will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism." (Presumably he meant in support of good journalism, rather than victims of good journalism.) He added: "I do support the Oscar Ban movement's position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community."
Brie Larson
Best actress frontrunner Larson highlighted the issue when posting her cover of The Hollywood Reporter to Instagram. "Personally, I'm interested in reading their article on #OscarsSoWhite," she wrote. "This is a conversation that deserves attention."
Tyrese Gibson
Gibson advocated that Rock step down in an interview with People. "There is no joke that he can crack. 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,'" he said. "The statement that you make is that you step down."
50 Cent
In a now-deleted Instagram, 50 Cent urged Rock to quit. "Chris please do not do the oscars awards. You mean a lot man, don’t do it. Please," he said (according to Time).
Al Sharpton
Sharpton has repeatedly criticized the Academy since the nominations were announced. Initially, he said in a statement (via THR):"Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get the whiter it gets. And this year’s Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscars. Yet again, deserving Black actors and directors were ignored by the Academy — which reinforces the fact that there are few if any Blacks with real power in Hollywood." His National Action Network is encouraging people not to watch the Oscars in a "tune out."
Stacey Dash
The Clueless actress went on Fox & Friends describing the boycott as "ludicrous" and arguing that BET and Black History Month promote segregation. Donald Trump, who called into the show, thought Dash had a point, and said, "It would certainly be nice if everyone could be represented properly. And hopefully that’s the case, but perhaps it’s not the case."
Reese Witherspoon
On Facebook, Witherspoon gave a shout-out to an article in Timethat argues that the Academy "still doesn't get it," while adding her two cents. She said she is "so disappointed that some of 2015's best films, filmmakers and performances were not recognized... Nothing can diminish the quality of their work, but these filmmakers deserve recognition. As an Academy member, I would love to see a more diverse voting membership."
Viola Davis
Davis told Entertainment Tonight that she's going to be on vacation during the Oscars. As for the lack of diversity in the nominations, she said that the "problem is not with the Oscars. The problem is with the Hollywood movie-making system." If Chris Rock hosts, Davis said, "I hope he takes it as an opportunity to make a statement, a social statement about change. It's 2016."
John Krasinski
While promoting 13 Hours — Michael Bay's movie about Benghazi — Krasinski became another star to look more broadly at diversity in Hollywood. "It's really about looking to who's telling what story, who's being allowed to direct, who's being allowed to act in it. I think that needs to change, and I think the more diverse roles there are for directors, actors, writers, producers on every level, the better our business is," he said. "I think that's where the changes should start."
Charlotte Rampling
Rampling, nominated for Best Actress for her work in 45 Years, has received heaps of criticism for the comments she made on French radio that the controversy is "racist to whites." Rampling said: "One can never really know, but perhaps the Black actors did not deserve to make the final list."
Michael Caine
Caine also made questionable comments in a radio interview. "There’s loads of Black actors. In the end you can't vote for an actor because he's Black," he said, according to The Independent. "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.'" He told Black actors to "be patient," adding that it took him "years to get an Oscar."
Melissa Rivers
Rivers used an extended metaphor to describe the "systemic problem" to Us Weekly. "You have to remember, the tail doesn't wag the dog, the dog wags the tail," she said. "Everyone is angry at the tail. The problem is the dog. Until that problem is solved, and there's a larger pool of roles and performances, you're going to find yourself in this situation." She also expressed sympathy for Cheryl Boone Isaacs. "I feel badly for the president of the Academy, because not only is she a woman, she's Black. If anyone's going to be sensitive to this situation, it's going to be her," she said.
Ava DuVernay
After the Academy announced on January 22 its plans to make membership more diverse, DuVernay responded on Twitter: "Shame is a helluva motivator." She continued: "We've all felt shame even when we didn't believe we were wrong. It's the fact that EVERYONE ELSE thinks you're wrong. Fix it mode kicks in. Marginalized artists have advocated for Academy change for DECADES. Actual campaigns. Calls voiced FROM THE STAGE. Deaf ears. Clòsed minds. Whether it's shame, true feelings, or being dragged kicking + screaming, just get it done. Because the alternative isn't pretty."
Julie Delpy
Discussing the Academy's lack of diversity at Sundance with The Wrap, French actress Julie Delpy drew ire for her comments arguing that it is "hardest" for women in the industry.
"Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media," she said. "It’s funny — women can’t talk. I sometimes wish I were African-American, because people don’t bash them afterward." As you can imagine, this has not gone over well on Twitter. This tweet is particularly choice.
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