Tyrese Gibson Thinks Chris Rock Should Step Down As Oscars Host

Tyrese Gibson believes that Chris Rock should step down from his Oscars hosting gig in light of the lack of diversity in the nominations for this year’s ceremony.

Tyrese Gibson On Chris Rock

Gibson, who is best known for starring in the Fast & Furious films, doesn’t believe that any good can come out of Rock hosting the Oscars this year. With many actors and filmmakers decrying the lack of nods for people of color and boycotting the awards show this year altogether, Gibson believes Rock should join them.

“There is no joke that he can crack,” Gibson told People magazine. “There is no way for him to seize the moment and come into this thing and say, ‘I’m going to say this and say that I’m going to address the issue but then I’m still going to keep my gig as the host.’ The statement that you make is that you step down.”

Gibson went on to opine that were this year’s Oscars host a member of the LGBT community, and were no members of the LGBT community nominated or their stories recognized, that host would step down.

“If they purposefully left out all homosexuals and gays from being nominated for an Oscar if the host Chris Rock was a homosexual, he would have stepped down already,” he said.

Praising Jada Pinkett-Smith’s video message, in which she revealed that she would be sitting out the Oscars and choosing not to view it from home, Gibson said, “If you have a problem with feeling like you’re being excluded, all across the board, you don’t just sit on your hands and complain.You fix it.” He added, “This is not us saying we’re against the Oscars because we’re gonna combat racism. We’re just saying, ‘Yo, this is not cool.’ You can’t be doing this in 2016 and act as if no one is gonna notice.”

While Gibson might want Rock to skip the Oscars in solidarity, Pinkett-Smith expressed her support for him in her video.

“Hey Chris, I will not be at the Academy Awards, and I will not be watching, but I can’t think of a better man to do the job at hand than you my friend,” Pinkett-Smith said. “Good luck.”

Smith has not responded to calls for him to step down, but he did address the nominations on Twitter, captioning a promo for the Oscars, “The #Oscars. The White BET Awards.”