The Oscars talk continues! Oscar winner Mo’Nique is weighing in on the Academy Awards boycott. Plus, there are rumors that the Academy is scrambling to get a few prominent black celebrities to present at the ceremony. Get it all inside….
Oscar winning actress Mo’Nique is getting in on the Oscars controversy for the lack of inclusion in the selection of this year’s nominees. The comedienne won the Best Supporting Actress award in 2010 for her role in Lee Daniels’ drama Precious. After her win, a firestorm of controversy begand when she made claims that she was blackballed from the industry.
Now, she’s addressing this year’s controversy of lack of diversity and she’s responding to other celebrities who have decided to boycott the ceremony this year, mainly Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Mo and her husband Sidney Hicks dropped by V-103 to chop it up with Big Tigger to give her perspective on the issue (and to promote their podcast "Mo & Sidney's Open Relationship").
The Bessie actress said the Oscars isn’t something she watches anyway, so she’s not up in arms about the boycott. You’ll recall, she said part of the reason she was blackballed from the industry was because she would not go out and campaign for the trophy. She said instead of “us” being worried about a gold trophy, we should be standing up against equal pay and equal treatment in Hollywood. She explained,
“The Oscars are not something I watch anyway…When we raise an argument about an award and we don’t raise the argument about the injustice on wages, we don’t raise the argument about the poor treatment that we get as human beings on sets, but we’re talking about a trophy.”
Hmph.
The Precious star then specifically addresses Will and Jada boycotting the 88th Academy Awards ceremony saying,
“In reference to Will and Jada, and I love them, they’ve already won. Will is one of the few multi-million dollar actors that is of color. Ten years ago, the word was that he was getting $20 million a film. If you’re getting $20 million a film, y’all have already won.
"Do we stand up over a gold plated trophy? Or do we stand up and say we need equal wages and equal treatment? Are we standing up now because it’s in your backyard? Because the Oscars was no different last year. The Oscars have not been any different for what…89 years?”
Tigger then chimes in and says, “They threw us a bone for 12 Years a Slave.”
Mo responds:
“But why do we keep wanting to get thrown a bone? Why do we want to keep saying ‘Can we please come to your party?’ Instead of saying, ‘We have a party over here and we welcome everybody, but we’re not begging to come to you party.’ I think it’s a bigger picture to be arguing over a trophy.”
She said black production companies have been around for years (i.e. Will & Jada, Oprah & Tyler Perry), but wonders why we haven’t started making more black films. She said we need the “power players” to make the noise and to create our own content so we don’t have to beg and plead to be apart of something that obviously doesn’t want to acknowledge us. Check it below:
Thoughts?
Speaking of the Oscars...
Page Six is reporting that the Academy is now scrambling to enlist some prominent black presenters to pass out awards following the lack of diversity debate. Oh? A Hollywood source allegedly told the publication, “The Oscars are looking for a black celebrity to give out the Best Picture award."
And who might those prominent black folks be?
The source revealed they are looking to reach out to Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman and even snubbed actor Will Smith. Chile...
Well, we know Will is a no-go since he recently confirmed he’s standing with his wife and will NOT be attending this year’s ceremony. Page Six claims Oprah and Morgan Freeman were contacted and their reps said they have not heard of any offers yet.
Adding to the list of celebs boycotting the Academy Awards, Quincy Jones, who is the first the first African American to be appointed to the Academy's board of governors, is reportedly threatening to boycott the Oscars where he’s set to present alongside Common and Pharrell. He said he will NOT present unless he is given 5 minutes to talk about the lack of diversity during the telecast. Hmph.
Guess we will see once the show airs (if you’re watching) on February 28th.
Photo: Getty/Big Tigger's IG
