Obama weighs in on controversy over all-white Oscar slate

Granted, these are all fairly modest actions, but they are still tangible ones that should be lauded, and encouraged, if we want to do more than just talk a good game about embracing diversity.

“I think it’s really sad”, said the real estate tycoon.

His performance in that movie was beyond spectacular.

Obama’s wing-woman, Valerie Jarrett, also weighed-in and said “diversity” and “inclusion” is something everybody should be working on. Since this reflects the white, male power structure in the industry, it suggests the trouble doesn’t begin with myopic award voting but with a narrow perspective among the people who hire talent and decide which projects get made in the first place.

The Oscars probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into two weeks ago when they went ahead and failed to nominate a single person of color for any of the acting categories.

Will Smith also should have received a nomination for his role in “Concussion” and Idris Elba should have been recognized for his role as a West African warlord in “Beasts of No Nation”.

The lack of diversity among the nominees is because there isn’t any diversity among the voters. While some have called for him to step down as a show of support for the call for more diversity in the Oscars the comedian and actor has decided that he will stay on board to host the ceremony. “The Board’s goal is to commit to doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020”.

Addressing the #OscarsSoWhite topic with The Hollywood Reporter, Cheryl Boone Isaacs says executives have “always known he was gonna go there”.

The similarities between what occurred then, in the run-up to the 68th annual Academy Awards, and what’s happening now, in the run-up to the 88th, are striking and more than a little eerie. But based on those L.A. Times figures, there are even fewer of them in the Academy (less than 2 percent) and the DGA (3.2 percent).

The debate is not likely to die down anytime soon, as many actors who have threatened to boycott the Oscars night will definitely come up with statements which will keep this discussion hot until the Oscars awards are distributed. The 2016 Oscars praises a lengthy list of all-White actors and actresses, a reality that has forced stars like Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee and the Rev. Al Sharpton to boycott the annual event altogether. It would be nice for them to at least have been nominated.