Jada Pinkett Smith is taking things another step forward by actually boycotting the Oscars. There's a few other A-listers doing the same. Get the deets inside and what Jada said in her new video...
Jada Pinkett Smith is back on her Facebook page today, this time with a video talking about her plans to boycott the Oscars.
Recently, she posed the question about what we, as the black community, should do as a solution to constantly being overlooked by mainstream organizations. Now, she's taking it one step forward and saying she and Will Smith will not be attending, nor watching, this year's Oscars. She also said maybe it's time blacks took their money and put it in resources that benefit us as a community. She says begging and pleading diminishes our power.
Sounds great in theory, and we can only hope The Smiths, arguably one of the richest couples in Hollywood, actually put their money where their mouths are. It'll also be interesting to see exactly which "resources" the money should feed into. And it'll be even more interesting to see just how many black celebs attend this year's NAACP Awards and other Award shows that cater to people of color.
Check out the video in its entirety below:
We must stand in our power.
Posted by Jada Pinkett Smith on Monday, January 18, 2016
Niecy Nash doesn't think that a boycott is necessarily the solution.
“I don't know if avoiding it altogether is going to help, but I just think we have to continue to move forward,” the Getting On actress told ET.
“We have this awareness and this spotlight -- we've got to look at other work. There’s other work out there that I think was missed. We’ve just got to do better.”
Spike Lee, though, co-signed the boycott. The latest recipient of the Honorary Oscar wrote on his Instagram:
#OscarsSoWhite... Again.
I Would Like To Thank President Cheryl Boone Isaacs And The Board Of Governors Of The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences For Awarding Me an Honorary Oscar This Past November. I Am Most Appreciative. However My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. 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!! It's No Coincidence I'm Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday. Dr. King Said "There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It's Right". For Too Many Years When The Oscars Nominations Are Revealed, My Office Phone Rings Off The Hook With The Media Asking Me My Opinion About The Lack Of African-Americans And This Year Was No Different. For Once, (Maybe) I Would Like The Media To Ask All The White Nominees And Studio Heads How They Feel About Another All White Ballot. If Someone Has Addressed This And I Missed It Then I Stand Mistaken.
As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The "Real" Battle Is. It's In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To "Turnaround" Or Scrap Heap. This Is What's Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With "The Green Light" Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON, "I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS". People, The Truth Is We Ain't In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White. (Cont'd)
Filmmaker John Singleton caught heat for his new story in Variety magazine. He said the issue is the lack of black films all around. After folks tried to come for him, he went to his Instagram to clarify:
Let me make one thing clear.... When I speak on a subject my views are my own. I don't comment on any view for attention or to be accepted. This morning an article appeared in Variety about the controversy of this years Oscars and no black nominees... The uproar is valid. But I took another view and spoke about how there are so many slots to be nominated and many choices for talent to be honored... Every year there are movies that don't get an Oscar nomination... And every year we end up remembering the ones that didn't get consideration more than the nominees or winners... Boyz n the Hood, Do the Right Thing, weren't nominated in the years they were in consideration but these films are classics now.. To folks that want to Boycott the Oscars that is a valid position to have... The real fight I think is to support each other as artists and a collective to make more films... It's seems black folks in Hollywood rally when something like this happens but when young filmmakers need to be supported... New visions need to be financed and discovered everyone is looking for self... Let's have solidarity terms of doing good work and supporting each other as artists...that's what I bang on.. The demographic of Americais constantly evolving and changing so will all its institutions including the Oscars.
Still....#OscarsSoWhite
