Live, from New York City! On the most recent Saturday Night Live, the cast performed a skit to address the recent ongoing controversy regarding the upcoming 2016 Oscars. Numerous celebrities have spoken out on the subject- expressing their views on the lack of diversity among the nominees. Some of our favorite stars; Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, have even planned to boycott this year’s event.
The majority of nominees; Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, etc., are all white. It has been this way for such a long time that Chris Rock, who will be hosting the 2016 Oscars, jokingly referred to the show as the “White BET Awards.”
SNL’s skit consisted of a fictional event called the “Screen Guild Awards”, where it showcased a mockery of all white nominees. Their point was to prove that no matter how minuscule their roles were, they continuously came out on top- completely out beating the black actors who even had leading roles.
In response to the constant backlash, the Academy announced their future plans for 2020; where they “plan to double the number of women and diverse members of the Academy.” We’ll see how that goes.
But on a lighter note, not ALL of the nominees are white. One of our favorite directors who is Mexican and a three time Oscar winner, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has been nominated for Best Director. As well as the popular biopic film Straight Outta Compton, which showcases a stew of black actors, for Best Original Screenplay.
The 88th Academy Awards ceremony is set to air live on February 28th, 2016.
You can check out the full nominees, here.
What are your views on the controversy? Do you think the Academy needs to become more diverse? Tweet us at @CelebMix, or comment below! We’d love to hear your thoughts.