Academy Members on #OscarsSoWhite: ‘Extremely Offensive’ to Suggest We’re Racists
Several Academy members spoke out to The Hollywood Reporter today and said it’s not fair that the organization as a whole is being accused of racism because there were no black nominees.
#OscarsSoWhite has blown up into a big media topic of discussion in the past week, especially with big names like Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith calling out Hollywood.
Well, members of the Academy spoke to The Hollywood Reporter today to push back against that narrative. Jeremy Larner, who was a civil rights activist in the 1960s, said that he has personally voted for many people of color, but one of the films people are outraged was snubbed––Straight Outta Compton––just didn’t strike him as a “great film.”
Two others, however, were a little more direct in pushing back. One anonymous Academy member said, “I’m very offended by the idea that some people are calling us racists — race was the furthest thing from my mind when I cast my ballot.”
That person called it “irresponsible” and said they did nominate one person of color for an award.
And then there’s Penelope Ann Miller, who had this to say:
“I voted for a number of black performers, and I was sorry they weren’t nominated. But to imply that this is because all of us are racists is extremely offensive. I don’t want to be lumped into a category of being a racist because I’m certainly not and because I support and benefit from the talent of black people in this business. It was just an incredibly competitive year.”
She added that there were certainly “a lot of omissions of white people that I think were just as disappointing,” like Michael Keaton in Spotlight.
[image via Joe Seer/Shutterstock]
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