Charlotte Rampling: Oscar comments were misinterpreted

Charlotte Rampling, nominated for a best-actress Academy Award for Andrew Haigh’s portrait of a marriage, “45 Years“, said Friday an Oscar boycott is “racist to white people“. Adding on to that, Rampling said that she meant to say that in an ideal world, every performance will be given equal opportunities for consideration.

Actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith will boycott the ceremony alongside director Spike Lee. When the interviewer then explained that black members of the film industry feel like a minority, Rampling responded, “No comment”.

She went on to say: “These days everyone is more or less accepted”.

The latest celebrity to speak out about the race row is Sir Michael Caine, who said the colour of an actor’s skin shouldn’t be a reason to vote for him to take home an Oscar.

The alleged remarks came as African-American stars attacked Academy voters for failing to nominate a single black actor, director or film for any of the leading Oscars categories.

The British actress waded in on the debate about this year’s Academy Awards nominations, after only white actors received a nod in the four main acting categories.

The current issue has sparked controversy regarding Oscars’ failure to nominate not even one non-white actor or actress.

That same day, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science announced a pledge to double the number of female and minority members by 2020, to which Rampling said, “I am highly encouraged by the changes announced today by the academy to diversify its membership”.

Rampling, 69, sparked controversy by speaking out after some actors made a decision to boycott this year’s Oscars due to an absence of black actors.

“The nominations reflect the Academy, the Academy reflects the industry, and the industry reflects America”, Smith said. Come check me out at #TheOscars this year.

According to a press release, the Board will be nixing the “traditional process” in which current members pick new members to instead launch an “ambitious global campaign to identify and recruit qualified new members who represent greater diversity”.