The Academy Awards showcase has been the talk of the town since the nominees were announced earlier this week. The lack of diversity within the nods was startling, but not surprising to some, even prompting the Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, to speak out. Now, the host of the forthcoming evening shared his summation of the award show in a nutshell.
Chris Rock, who’ll host the Oscars this year, deemed the annual event as “The White BET Awards.” During a promo that he released on Twitter, he also added why you shouldn’t miss out on this year’s festivity.
2015’s #OscarsSoWhite trending topic re-emerged after the nominees were revealed, prompting a few actresses/actors to join in on the conversation. One person in particular was Ice Cube, who was a pivotal collaborator in the groundbreaking Straight Outta Compton film.
During a recent interview with Wendy Williams, the Ride Along 2 star said he’s not upset at the snub. “It’s the Oscars, they do what they do. The people love the movie and the people supported the movie.” He later continued, “It is nice to be recognized, but N.W.A is anti-establishment so we’re used to people trying to dismiss what we gotta say, used to the industry looking down on us. We were the black sheeps of the industry and we used to it. If we didn’t get nominated, that would be familiar territory.”
The 88th annual Academy Awards will take place Feb. 28.