Chris Rock, who came out to Public Enemy‘s “Fight the Power,” didn’t waste any time diving into the controversy over the lack of diversity at this year’s Academy Awards.
After a montage of the year’s cinematic high points, Rock said: “I counted at least 15 black people on that montage.” He then referred to the Oscars as the “White People’s Choice Awards.” He also eventually answered the question whether Hollywood is indeed racist. Sure it is, Rock said, but it’s “sorority racist,” meaning it’s more about which clique you belong to.
Rock also admitted that he thought about bowing out as host of this year’s show, but he thought better of it, saying he didn’t want to lose another job to Kevin Hart. Besides, he joked, the Oscars have often had less-than-diverse slates for many of its 88 years. People didn’t protest it in the 1950s and 1960s because, Rock said, there were issues such as Jim Crow and lynching to fight. “When your grandmother is swinging from a tree,” Rock said, it’s hard to get worked up about who’s in the running for an Oscar.
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Barbara Chai
Mike Ayers
Michael Calia
Kelly Crow
Ben Fritz
Neil Shah
Erich Schwartzel
Anna Russell
John Jurgensen
Jennifer Maloney
I'm not sure that 'Hollywood is racist' dog is gonna hunt. However, why are all the really bad characters in action movies of obvious northern European descent..?
Politics and racial animus have utterly and permanently ruined the Oscars. I hope the ratings reflect this. Serves ABC and AMPAS right. A bunch of kowtowing genuflectors.
How dare merit be considered in awarding Oscars. Outrageous. Long live affirmative action at the Oscars, as well.
How about NBA??
Turned the broadcast off 10 minutes into the show. This was not the Oscars I grew up watching. Should have been called Black People take platform of how bad their lives are again. First the Super Bowl
(never watch half-time again) and now the Oscars. Never watch the Oscars again. How sad that a group of people can ruin the show for others. This was an awards show not a soap box for how unfair life treats them. Believe it or not there are others whose lives are worst then theirs. All lives matter not just black. Grow up Hollywood. No one cares about nominations. After all you do make good money; are you willing to give the money back. I did turn back to watch the last ten minutes of Leo and Spot Light wins and then turned it off again. How sad.
The Oscars stunk
I am tired of hearing how the blacks are miss treated!
Chris Rock is an Idiot!
Look at the ratings there are 350,000,000 people in the country, how many watched the program?
The Hollywood group thinks they matter, sad fact is they don't!