Jada Pinkett Smith And Spike Lee Will Not Attend The Oscars, Call For Boycott

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee announcing today that they will not be attending the Oscars this year because of the all-white acting nominations for the 88th Academy Awards.

Jada Pinkett Smith And Spike Lee Boycott The Oscars

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Smith and Lee went to their respective social media outlets to express their dismay with the Academy for not including black actors and actresses in the acting categories for the second year in a row. Lee, on his Instagram page, posted a picture of Dr. King and wrote a lengthy caption which included the quote, “40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can’t Act?!” and that he cannot support the “Lily White” Oscars. Smith took to her Facebook page to post a video in stating that she was disappointed in the lack of diversity in the acting nominations. “Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power,” she said. “And we are a dignified people and we are powerful.” Moreover, she added, “Let’s let the academy do them, with all grace and love. And let’s do us differently.”

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has pushed hard for more inclusive show in the past and was “disappointed” that the Academy had failed to diversify the awards show.

Some surprise omissions from in this year’s nominations included Pinkett’s husband, Will Smith, who was not nominated for his role in the NFL drama Concussion and the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, which was not included in the Best Picture category following near universal critical acclaim. Lee’s own movie, the hip-hop musical Chi-Raq, also did not get any nominations.

The 88th annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live on Feb. 28 and will be hosted by comedian Chris Rock, who recently called the Oscars “The White BET Awards.”