For the second year in a row, every actor nominated for an Academy Award is white. Host Chris Rock, who already had his monologue prepared, is now rewriting it, and black actors such as Don Cheadle are hoping he will use the opportunity to “skewer the entirety of society.”
Actors and directors of some notable films such as Straight Outta Compton and Creed were left out of consideration. Jada Pinkett Smith, whose husband,Will Smith, was snubbed for his role in Concussion, tweeted that “At the Oscars, people of color are always welcomed to give out awards, even entertain, but we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments.”
Cheadle, who tweeted a joke about his participation at the event consisting of parking cars for the actual attendees, said he hopes Rock’s hosting duties will turn out to be “one of the greatest moments we’ve ever seen in television history.”
Academy Awards producer Reginald Hudlin told Entertainment Tonight that viewers should be prepared for jokes about the nominees. He says the Academy is actally looking forward to being the butt of those jokes. “They know that’s what we need. They know that’s what the public wants, and we deliver what the people want.”
Some called for Rock to drop out of his hosting duties. Instead Hudlin says the pithy comedian is taking the opportunity to dive right into the fire. He says the audience should expect plenty of #Oscarssowhite jokes.
Rock has already begun the Oscar ribbing. He tweeted an an for the Academy Awards, writing “The #Oscars. The White BET Awards.” In a promotional video he listed the top three reasons to watch the show: “presenter cleavage,” “check out who died this year,” and “I might curse.”
Rock has long held an undisguisable disdain for the Academy Awards. When he last hosted the show in 2005 he criticized the broadcast, saying “come on, it’s a fashion show.” In a 2014 essay he wrote for the Hollywood Reporter he targeted “Hollywood’s race problem,” saying that the movie business is a “white industry.”
The Oscar nomination process this year spawned the hashtag #Oscarssowhite, and prompted a few actors, such as Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, to announce that they will boycott the show. However, the controversy has led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to announce that it will be revamping its membership in order to get a more diverse set of members, with a goal of accomplishing this by 2020.
The Academy Awards will take place Feb. 28. Some think it may be the most controversial Oscars yet.