All white on the big night: Oscars diversity row returns
Actress Lupita Nyong'o accepts the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role award for '12 Years a Slave' onstage during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California. Diversity is the big word on everyone's lips again as Hollywood's movers and shakers gather for the Oscars, with an overwhelming bias toward white nominees threatening to overshadow the glitzy event. PHOTO | AFP
All eyes will be on black comedian and actor Chris Rock, who is still on board to host the Oscars on February 28, despite calls for him to join a boycott.
Insiders say the 51-year-old will not shy away from the controversy, and reworked his entire set after Jada Pinkett Smith announced she would be staying away.
"At the Oscars... people of colour are always welcomed to give out awards... even entertain," Pinkett Smith, 44, tweeted.
"But we are rarely recognised for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of colour refrain from participating all together?"
Diversity is the big word on everyone's lips again as Hollywood's movers and shakers gather for the Oscars, with an overwhelming bias toward white nominees threatening to overshadow the glitzy event.
No ethnic minority actor or actress has been nominated in any of the top categories for the second year running, sparking an outcry against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
