The director will be boycotting this years awards, after the #Oscarssowhite debate.
Director Spike Lee has spoken about his decision to boycott this year’s Oscars at the Berlin International Film Festival while premiering his latest movie Chi-Raq. Lee announced in January that he would not be attending this year’s ceremony, due to the lack of diversity among the nominees.
Spike Lee has spoken about his decision to boycott this year’s Academy Awards.
When asked about the Oscars diversity debate, Lee said he and his wife “never called a boycott. We just said we’re not going.” “Every year if you add up all the actor categories, there are 20 spots open and in the last two years not a single person of colour has been nominated,” Lee continued.
More: Spike Lee Will Not Be Attending 2016 Oscars Due To Lack Of Diversity Among Nominees
“So, if you’re a sports fan and added it up, it would be white folks: 40, people of colour: zero. There were a lot of fine performances that I felt got overlooked, so my wife and I said mutually we’re not going to go.”
Lee added that he believes the “ruckus” that has surrounded this year’s awards has been positive, after the Academy announced plans to diversify its membership going forward. The director said if the debate hadn’t happened, “I believe the Academy would not have made changes, so it was worth it.”
But the debate about diversity in Hollywood is not limited to the Oscars. “The Academy Awards is not the problem,” the director continued. “The problem has been with our gatekeepers. At the executive level at studios and networks and cable, they sit in a room every quarter and decide what we’re going to make and not make. The majority of the people are white men, so if there’s not diversity there, that’s what’s in the movies.”
More: The Academy Speaks On Lack Of Diversity In Oscar Nominations, As Stars Call For Boycott
Lee was also asked if he believed that this year’s host, Chris Rock, should have made the decision to step down following the controversy. “He should do whatever he wants to do,” Lee said. “He’s a grown-ass man.”
On his latest project, director Spike Lee creates an current day version of Aristophanes' ancient...
Moviegoers who know nothing about the iconic 2003 Korean thriller will perhaps enjoy this half-hearted...
The latest clip from 'Oldboy' featuring a very unstable and mentally damaged Joe Doucett on...
'Oldboy' is an intense mystery thriller about a man who is locked up for 20...
When Joe Doucett suddenly wakes up one morning to find himself imprisoned in a cell...
Flik Royale is a sullen, thirteen-year old boy from middle-class Atlanta, Georgia, who is sent...
Welcome to a piece of American history. In the old music hall, white comedians...
If you were to write a screenplay about a drug dealer who has just 24...
The sixth line of my notes from the "Summer of Sam" preview screeningreads, "if Spike...
Lisa Picard is a struggling New York actress who has had her 15 minutes and...