The Rev. Al Sharpton announced he was holding an “emergency meeting” to discuss Hollywood’s all-white list of Oscar nominees and talk about possible action against the Academy Awards’ powers-who-be.
“The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains,” he said in a statement reported by Business Insider. “The higher you get, the whiter it gets. … I have called an emergency meeting early next week in Hollywood with the task force to discuss possible action around the Academy Awards.”
The awards ceremony has only nominated an all-white list of names for best actor, best actress and best director only once before in the last 20 years, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Mr. Sharpton gave kudos to the judges for nominating “Selma” for best picture, but then he decried the lack of diversity in the other categories.
“The lack of diversity in today’s Oscar nominations is appalling and while it is good that Selma was nominated for ’Best Picture,’ it’s ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shutout around voting while there is a racial shutout around the Oscar nominations. With all of the talent in Selma and other black movies this year, it is hard to believe that we have less diversity in the nominations today than in recent history,” he said, Business Insider reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.