Oscars 2016: Ice Cube speaks out after Straight Outta Compton nomination snub

As the all-time highest grossing film by a Black director, the critically-acclaimed biopic, was nominated for the best Original Screenplay. I especially want to congratulate screenwriters Jon Herman and Andrea Berloff who had the unenviable task of bringing the complex true story of “America’s Most Dangerous Group” to life in Straight Outta Compton.

The F. Gary Gray-directed Straight Outta Compton, which charts the rise and fall of the California hip-hop group and features an all-black cast, did land a nomination in the Original Screenplay category.

“The snowstorms in “The Revenant” are nearly as blindingly white as the 2016 Oscars”, read an ecard posted on Twitter by Someecards, referring to the movie that was filmed in freezing conditions and won a leading 12 nominations.

The nominees for this year’s Academy Awards were revealed this morning and as always, several seemingly strong contenders failed to make the cut.

While Perry might see as the issue as something other than racism, that didn’t stop the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite from trending after the nominations were announced. These films/performances and the scripts that drive them often go into development YEARS before they are released and thus in Oscar contention.

STRAIGHT OUTTA Compton was one of the biggest films of 2015 – making more than $200 million worldwide. We were the black sheep of the industry…. “He didn’t know that we had guns and stuff on tour – back when we were young and dumb”, said the “Ride Along 2” star. Even “Creed” and its Black director and Black lead actor got snubbed, with the only nomination going to Golden Globe victor Sylvester Stallone (who is, to be clear, also White).