Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith Call for Oscar Boycott.

@jimbobb23:

Ironically, I have long since boycotted Spike Lee's movies because he is racist. True story.

He is wrong.

Spike isn't talking about blacks...he's talking about minorities. I'm tired of people generalizing without thoroughly reading.

This is why I watch the Hong Kong Film Awards instead. It is more diverse with almost no white people at all.

i have never watched the oscars before, but now i will

I didn't say anything about obligate, I said should, meaning that if they agree there is a problem (and despite the massive defensiveness in this thread most people in the industry do recognize there is a lack of diversity, especially behind the camera where black females are almost literally unheard of and black males don't fair much better) then they should keep an eye toward seeking out black talent. Maybe that means advertising casting in different venues or expanding their circle of contacts to include agents that specialize in black talent, maybe it means rethinking a few roles.

As for the other part, the thing is he isn't calling for anyone's award to be taken away. He even stated he doesn't believe the academy is racist, despite people in the thread and every other internet comment section in the world putting those words in his mouth. And anyone who saw his acceptance speech last year would recognize that he is talking about something bigger than this particular awards ceremony. It's about lack of diversity in an entire industry. He probably believes some black performances were better than some of the nominated performances this year, but so do a lot of other people and it isn't the point. If he posted a list of who should win it would be a total distraction from trying to draw a light on a lack of diversity. Those who agreed with the list would agree with him and those who disagreed would say he has no point, and as you say tear it down (as if they're not tearing him down anyways), in other words it would be about the list, which would be silly, since that's not his goal. His goal isn't a Kanye's "so and so is the best of all time and got snubbed", it is that in a country with as many minorities as we have it is odd for all the acting nominations in every category two years in a row to go to only white actors, and since it has happened it probably means that the academic studies, all of which say there is a lack of diversity in the industry, are correct and he wants to see that changed.

@Master_Live: http://www.tmz.com/2016/01/20/spike-lee-boycott-oscars-gma/

Explains what actually happened.

Fiddy told chris rock to boycott so now chris rock has the choice of doing the oscars and being jumped by fiddy for being a race traitor or doing the b.e.t. awards show and being jumped by fiddy cuz that's what fiddy does at b.e.t. awards shows.

That doesn't sound as interesting!

Aunt Vivi from Fresh Prince put Will Smith and his wife back in their place:

Transcript: First of all, miss thing. Does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak? And the second thing is, girlfriend, there is a lot of **** going in the world that you all don’t seem to recognize. People are dying, our boys are being shot left and right. People are hungry, people are starving, people are trying to pay bills, and you’re talking about some mother****in' actors and Oscars. And it just ain’t that deep. Here’s the other thing. For you to ask other actors and other ‘blacktresses’ and black actors to jeopardize their career and their standing in a town [where] you know damn well you don’t do that. And here’s the other thing: they don’t care. They don’t care! I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living...made their living and have made millions and millions of dollars from the very people that you’re talking about boycotting just because you didn’t get a nomination? Just because you didn’t win? That’s not the way life works, baby. Okay? And it... it’s very suspect to me. And I seem to recall, hmm, 20... maybe 6, 7, years ago...25, whatever it was...I don't even remember. But I seem to remember coming to you at option time [on Fresh Prince] coming to you and saying "you know what, Will, you're the star of the show. Why don't we all get together, and maybe with you we can get a little raise? Maybe the network, you know since the show is such a hit, and you being the star of the show, your influence would help us greatly." Like they did on Friends! Like white shows do! Remember that? Do you remember that? Because I do. Hmm. And your response to me was, "my deal is my deal, and y'all's deal is y'all's deal." Well, karma must be a *****, because now here you are. Here you are, you've had a few flops. And you know, there are those out there who really deserved a nod, and Idris Elba was one of them. Lord have mercy. Beast of No Nation was incredible. That man is an incredible actor. You are not. Maybe you didn't deserve a nomination. Uh, I didn't think, frankly, you deserved a Golden Globe nomination with that accent, but you got one. And just because the world don't go the way you want it to go doesn't mean you can go out and you start asking people to stand up and sing 'We Shall Overcome' for you! You ain't Barack and Michelle Obama, and y'all need to get over yourselves. You have a huge production company that you only [use to] produce your family, your friends, and yourselves. So you are a part of Hollywood, you are a part of the system that is unfair to other actors. So get real. Now for those of you who say "Miss Hubert, here she go! There she go! There she go bein' bitter." *****es, please. It's not about being bitter. It's about being right. Y'know, some of us got mortgages to pay, we got bills to pay, we got bigger **** to worry about than the Oscars. The only Oscar I care about right now is Oscar Meyer weiner with mustard and relish. And on that note, blacktress Janet Hubert signing off. Peace, baby.

https://youtu.be/N9eY-kKXBnQ (sorry I'm mobile)

@Master_Live: Haha. It's still ridiculous if you ask me.

That said, Michael B. Jordan should've been nominated for his performance in Creed, and Creed should of been nominated for Best Picture and Screenplay.

@Seiki_sands: Then he ought to be focusing on black artists to step up their game. He ought to be encouraging more blacks to go into the arts. He ought to be encouraging more blacks to get into the kinds of jobs in which they are actually in a position to make these kinds of changes. Like I said, he is in a position to do this himself. He mostly makes small independent movies, and he's certainly in a position to hire skilled black writers and actors. So why the hell is he complaining about the lack of representation at the awards when HE was in a direct position to showcase the talents of black artists and then subsequently failed to get a single nomination? Again, there is nothing wrong with any filmmaker or studio making exactly the kinds of movies they want to make. There is nothing inherently wrong with then hiring a white director, a white writer, and white actors. If you think there's something wrong with things now, then provide an alternative.

Spike Lee is an abnormal racist that only sees colors. A normal individual sees human beings instead of colors.

I'm boycotting just because they're going to **** over DiCaprio... again.

Didn't anyone tell you? Black people can't be racist! Stop being silly!

I tend to agree. My wife watches these shows and all I do is bitch and moan if I am in the same room but knowing a few butt hurt jackasses won't be attending, maybe I'll watch the program with an open mind. Nah. I'll still bitch at these clowns who play make believe but I'll laugh knowing the butt hurt is strong with a few who think people actually care about them and their opinions.

boycotting won't do anything, rioting would send them a message #NoOscarsNoPeace

why do people still pay attention to spike lee

I haven't seen it yet, but by most accounts I've heard that Chi-Raq is pretty darn good. Point being, people are always going to pay at least a little bit of attention to him as long as his work demands attention.

How ironic, Spike Lee is a racist himself. Didn't he once say white people shouldn't play basketball? And in NBA 2k16 (which he created the campaign for) if you create your character and make him white, in the cut scenes his family is still black. Go figure....

That's hilarious.

@da_illest101: Aunt Viv has a point. A VERY good one. Aunt Viv is right. Jada Pinkett is wrong. But SPIKE...he is right too and his point is separate from Janet/Aunt Viv.

Black guy here, who cares, wont watch it, just like I don't watch the ESPYs, BET Awards, or any award show in general. I find it comical that people tune in to these things anyway.

Perhaps there aren't any people trying to get those jobs. I don't know who applies to jobs behind the camera. Not everything is because of race. That's what racists think.

I don't see skin tone....I see talent. And that's how things should be looked at. Do the Oscars always recognize the best talent? No. I've always maintained it's a "issue" award....what's hot/important to Hollywood is going to get the nods and the pet of the year the awards. Doesn't mean they get it right. Hell many deserving people over the years fail to even get a nomination. But having a tantrum over nominations is ridiculous. I can see if no one is hiring minorities that apply for jobs. But at this point there is no evidence of that. And minorities HAVE won Oscars.

I don't think it's about the culture specifically but about not getting nods for their work that is the heart of this issue. Self pity.

Personally I ignore award shows and winners don't make me want to run out and watch specific movies/actors/directors etc. Same with any other award show in any genre. It's ridiculous to pat yourselves on the back. Hell shut the **** up....do your jobs......you are well compensated for the work.

I'm in for no Double Standards !! You go Stacey ! Well put.

How many white people were awarded at the BET awards?

Exactly, double standards man. Luv the comments on the Will Smith video on youtube, lol ..

Odell Beckham Jr. #Odeezy #13Hunnit #OdellBlock4 days agoThis nigga makes $20 mil a film and he's crying he wasn't nominated? i seriously hate life.Reply · 381 View all 60 replies ali z18 hours ago+Odell Beckham Jr. #Odeezy#13Hunnit#OdellBlock it has absolutely nothing to do with money. Money which he's earned by the way....so keep hating your losing life

This is more likely to hurt black/Asian actors. People will question did he/she win that award because of talent or skin colour.

Seriously? You use Stacey Dash on Fox and Friends to prove a point? Nothing she said was factual shes a damn mouthpiece for fox news. They use her so she can criticize black people and that's it.

Everybody in the smith family just seem like trash.

Scientology.

No talent, entitled kids.

Racist wife.

The ****?

Lol. adam baldwin schooled don cheadle over this and made cheadle look like a straight up fool. Comedy... gold...

This is cool and all but I'd rather they go bigger. I'd rather they aim to diversify tv and films. I realized while watching tv and thinking about what I watched over the years most rolls no mater the genre are given to white people. There's usually one token black character or one female on the main cast or one character of a specific minority while mostly everyone else is a white male. I really could care less about the Oscars but I want more diversity in my shows and movies. I wanna see a variety of ethnicity, genders, and sexualities to really spice things up where they're able. Hell I'll even go as far as to say I wanna see a female red ranger(I know it's silly to talk about power rangers sorry . Also rather seeing only one female in a team why not two or three. White people deserve their representation in media but it's grossly unbalanced right now. And attacking the Oscars isn't gonna help shit if Hollywood stays the same. Open up more studios, create more shows, and don't just l keep them on race specific channel put it on what ever channel you can. I'd like seeing shows or movies with an asian lead, or black, or german or whatever race they may be but they don't seem to want to spread their media far and wide. For example though I am black I don't watch BET, now if they put their shows on Fox, UPN(forget what it's called now) or some other widely watched channel I might see it. Also one last thing BLACK STUDIOS BRANCH OUT INTO OTHER GENRES DAMMIT. I like real life stuff that Tyler Perry makes but, why are none of them making fantasy movies, sci-fi or other genres, stop being so plain.

#BlackTalentMatters

@cmdr_danbo

Another question would be how many white people give a damn if a white person was nominated for some sort of BET award. I highly doubt many whites would have any concern over the matter.

This case is simply utter BS, end of story. I know in this day and age a number of blacks do still come across an injustice sometimes, but for this whole Oscars ordeal, this is not helping blacks and their cause, in fact I think its doing the opposite, a case like this is making it look as though blacks (though I most certainly know not all blacks are like that) are getting way too easily offended and blowing something way out of proportion, which is the Politically Correct nonsense that is destroying society. At the very least Spike Lee/Jada I think should have waited a 3rd year to see if any blacks still didn't get nominated, sure, likely would still qualify as nonsense and being ridiculous, but still, I say not even waiting 3 years just adds extra ridiculousness to this situation. 2 years is too soon.

I'm with you.

Yeah, bums me out now whenever I see Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in that show it just looks as though Will is a far better man that what he is now, and his family, makes you wonder what the hell happened.

@LostProphetFLCL: I don't know about the Oscars, but your point about whether sexism in the fields of science exists is sexism on a somewhat different level. Specifically it's considered institutional sexism which isn't necessarily intentional, but boils down to what each gender is encouraged to do when they are kids. And this is ultimately bad for scientific research because it leaves a bunch of guys who have had roughly the same experiences in life sitting around coming up with the same conclusions due to having roughly the same backgrounds. It's unintentionally putting a limit on the amount of ideas coming from a very important field of our society.

I could see the same with the Oscars really. If everyone picking the Oscar nominees have the same backgrounds in life they are going to have roughly the same idea as to what makes for a worthy movie pick. Now obviously this isn't nearly as big a deal as the science example, but what it means for the Oscars is less diversity, less acceptance of other expressions of art in film, and a far narrower audience. And again, none of this would end up being intentional, it's just something that happens due to the lack of diversity in those deciding the nominees.

@Master_Live: "I could see how someone might argue that Creed was overlooked. With that said, I'm looking forward to Sylvester Stallone possibly receiving an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor."

lol

She has been incredibly resentful of Will over the years. I don't want to sound like I'm taking Will Smith's side on this, but she has said that the reason she left (got fired) from Fresh Prince was that she outshined Will in the acting department which frankly nobody really did such a thing (maybe Alfonso at times). I really think she feels that she could have had a more successful career if her time on FP didn't end the way it did, and has never really gotten over it.

What are you laughing at!?

I don't necessarily disagree with that at all. What I do disagree with is the notion that there's a PROBLEM with the current institution and the way that things are run.

Are blacks not encouraged enough to go into the arts, so that they'll have future influence in things such as the film industry? Very possibly. But that is NOT inherently the fault of the white people making the movies and voting for the oscar nominees. Unless you're specifically willing to state which white person should have been bumped from the list (as in stating that X white person should have been removed from the nominations in order to make way for Y black person, or stating that X white person should have been turned down for an acting role in favor of Y white person), then you haven't actually stated anything wrong with what anyone actually did. "Could I have hired more blacks on my movie? Probably. But why should I have done so? Everything turned out well, the people who got the job did great, so why exactly are you arguing that some of them shouldn't have gotten the job?"

Hell...not enough blacks (or minority characters in general) going into these kinds of jobs may absolutely be a problem. But it's not exactly Hollywood's job to make black youths want to enter the movie business. This is precisely the thing that annoys me about people like Spike Lee's sentiment. Don't blame others for the problem when they haven't done anything wrong, provide an alternative. To use a game analogy, it'd be like a game company complaining about how there are too many first person shooters. There's no damn reason why any of those companies SHOULDN'T have made a first person shooter, so that isn't really a problem. They made what they wanted to make. If that's not good enough, then go out and make something different. If the root problem is that a disproportionately small number of blacks go into these kinds of jobs in the first place, then don't yell at Hollywood for being white. Go out and encourage more blacks to pursue those kinds of jobs.

Academy voters are overwhelmingly white and male

Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%.

Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership.

@Master_Live:

If the movie was overlooked, how can Stallone get best supporting actor?

@Jag85: The article said...

""You would think that in this day and age, there would be a little bit more equality across the board, but that's not the case," said Nancy Schreiber, one of a handful of women among the cinematography branch's 206 voting members. "Being a cinematographer should not be gender-based, and it's ridiculous that it is.""

""If the country is 12% black, make the academy 12% black," Washington said. "If the nation is 15% Hispanic, make the academy 15% Hispanic. Why not?"

So...here's the thing...I think there seems to be some confusion about what purpose the Academy is actually supposed to serve. What EXACTLY are the criteria for nominations, and how EXACTLY do those criteria fit in with the specific goals of the Academy?

And that's not just a snarky reply, I'm being serious. If being a cinematographer is gender based, then what does that even MEAN? Is she saying that the criteria actually depend on gender, or is she simply extrapolating based on the fact that there aren't nearly as many female cinematographers?

As far as Denzel Washington's comments, that ENTIRELY depends on the Academy's actual goal. If their goal is to show the best that every minority group has to offer, then it would make sense to include minority achievements simply because that's an inherent part of their goal. But I suspect that isn't the case, otherwise we'd have categories such as "best direction by a black (or other minority) director." If the goal is to represent merit and merit alone, then it's entirely possible that politics and prejudices will get in the way of that. But merit based solely on merit CAN'T entail that those receiving merit necessarily are proportionally in line with the demographics of the country.

Anyway, this is all sort of a VERY minor subset of a bigger issue. Exactly how much obligation do artists have to be politicians? What is the duty of the artist (or the entity celebrating the work of artists) to represent the public at large? People complain that the Oscars don't have enough minorities, but is it the Academy's DUTY to represent minority groups' achievements to film, to the extent that the representation is in line with the minority makeup of the general population? Exactly how much duty do artists have satisfy the political leanings of the general public? What exactly do artists owe their audience?

Ummm, perhaps I used the wrong word, I meant that even though they nominated Sly the Academy still failed to nominated Creed on the Best Picture category (which it deserved).

As far as I'm aware, a movie can't receive a best picture nomination unless at least one Academy member says that it is THE BEST movie of the year.

Meaning...EVERY single Academy member could say that it's Oscar quality, but it still woukldn't qualify if everyone only had it at "third best" instead of "the best".

And I actually kind of agree with that logic. It wouldn't make sense having a movie being nominated for best picture, which is a position in which it could WIN best picture, if none of the people who nominated it actually thought it was BEST PICTURE.

@Master_Live: "Ummm, perhaps I used the wrong word, I meant that even though they nominated Sly the Academy still failed to nominated Creed on the Best Picture category (which it deserved)."

Ummm, perhaps I used the wrong words. I guess what I was getting at that since the title character is Black, he would have no chance of best lead actor. But its funny how Stallone gets nominated for supporting actor?

That's what jump at me 1st when I read your opening comment.

since 2000, blacks have represented 20 percent of the nomination and they make up 13 percent of the population. Spike Lee is a racist, and so is Jada Pinkett Smith. I honestly forgot both of them existed until this.