Jada Pinkett faces backlash over Oscars boycott

 

Yesterday, Jada Pinkett-Smith shared a video on her Facebook page where she called out the Academy Awards committee for neglecting actors of colour, officially called for a boycott and added that she would not even watch the award event.

Joining her was director Spike Lee who shared a long note in his Instagram. “We cannot support it and [I] mean no disrespect … But, how is it possible for the second consecutive year all 20 contenders under the acting category are white? And let’s not even get into the other branches,” Lee wrote on Instagram. “Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all. We can’t act?! WTF!!” Spike Lee asked.

Well, Pinkett-Smith’s video earned her a few backlash, the most vocal being African American actress Janet Hubert who claimed Pinkett-Smith was only angry because her husband Will Smith was not nominated.

 

Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee’s bold move has yearned fruits

the Academy Award President Cheryl Boone Isaacs released a statement that is causing raves: Oscars membership(the voting members), which reportedly is made of more than 90% old white men, will be getting a total overhaul

Her statment;

“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes.
The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.
As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly.
This isn’t unprecedented for the Academy. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.”