Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith Boycotting Academy Awards Because #OscarsSoWhite

Director Spike Lee has revealed he will not attend this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, despite having been awarded an honourary Oscar in 2015 for his career’s work.

Update: This story has been updated with further comments from Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Will Smith and Mark Ruffalo. Those comments can be found at the bottom of this article.

The outspoken filmmaker cited the lack of diversity amongst recent acting nominees as the primary reason he and his wife Tonya Lewis Lee “cannot support” the ceremony.

He made the announcement via Instagram, in conjunction with Martin Luther King Jr. Day in America.

2016 is the second consecutive year in which the acting nominees were entirely white; this, despite contenders such as Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) and Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) having long been considered possibilities. In 2015, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was born in response.

Lee’s own 2015 film, Chi-Raq, was among the snub-ees.

Jada Pinkett Smith has also released a video to her Facebook page indicating that she does not plan on attending or watching the 2016 ceremony too.

Pinkett Smith was a contender for her supporting role in Magic Mike XXL –or, at least, shoulda been – and her husband Will Smith was also considered a frontrunner for his role in Concussion.

Still, we shouldn’t chalk up these boycotts to hurt feelings over potential snubs. Rather, Lee and Pinkett Smith are taking real stands against an Academy that has not done enough to diversify its voting base, and who consistently leave black stories and black stories unrewarded.

To those who claim the voting Academy members are not to blame for the larger industry’s exclusions, note that the voters are made up of producers, filmmakers, writers, actors… amounting to 6,000+ industry participants. Those who are making the industry calls are indeed the ones placing the votes. And, given that an average member is a 63-year-old white man, it is hard to argue that there is much space for films that do not appeal to that particular segment.

If the Academy Award nominations are indeed a regular ‘State of the Filmmaking Nation’, it’s precisely at the Oscar ceremony that activists like Lee and Pinkett Smith should take a stand and let the larger industry know that they won’t take it any longer.

The 88th Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will air in Australia the morning of February 29, 2016.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs has offered her thoughts on the lack of diversity within this year's batch of Oscar nominees.

Will Smith has revealed he will also follow in the footsteps of his wife Jada Pinkett Smith by boycotting the ceremony, telling Good Morning America, "We're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK."

Nominee Mark Ruffalo also considered boycotting the ceremony to protest the lack of diversity in both the Academy's membership and this year's batch of nominations. However, he later Tweeted that he would attend the 2016 Oscars in support of "the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism" (as depicted in his film Spotlight).

What do you think? Should more filmmakers boycott the coming Oscars?