Jada Pinkett Smith tackles lack of diversity at major award shows

18 January 2016 - 12:17 By Bang Showbiz

Jada Pinkett Smith has spoken about the lack of diversity among this year's Oscar nominations, admitting she is considering boycotting the awards all together. The 44-year-old actress is the latest star to speak out about the lack of diversity among the nominations for this year's Academy Awards. She wrote on Facebook and Twitter: ''At the Oscars, people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards, even entertain, but we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of colour refrain from participating all together? ''People can only treat us in the way in which we allow. With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment, J.'' Following the nomination announcement last Thursday, people were quick to comment that all the nominees were white, using the hashtag '#OscarsSoWhite' on Twitter. In fact, even the critically-acclaimed Straight Outta Compton's only nomination was for the film's two white screenwriters. Meanwhile, Creed, which was directed by a black man and stars black actor Michael B. Jordan in the lead role, only received one nomination for Sylvester Stallone's performance in the film. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is the president of the Academy, spoke about the lack of diversity, admitting it's a disappointing state of affairs. She said: ''I hope this isn't discouraging for anybody, and for filmmakers in particular. You just keep moving along ... We're going to keep pushing it.'' Meanwhile, Chris Rock, who will be hosting this year's ceremony on February 28, also commented on the debate. Alongside a 15 second promo for the awards, Chris wrote on Twitter: ''The #Oscars. The White BET Awards.''..

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