After the nominations, which mostly included white actors, were announced on Jan. 14, a number of high-profile men and women spoke out against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Spike Lee, an honorary Oscar winner last year, Jada Pinkett Smith and
later her husband, Will Smith, all said they would not attend the ceremony in protest.
Whilst speaking to a group of reporters on Wednesday, Obama was asked to comment on the nominations. “I think when everybody’s story is told, then that makes for better art,” Obama said. “That makes for better entertainment. It makes everybody feel part of one American family. So I think, as a whole, the industry should do what every other industry should do, which is to look for talent, provide opportunity to everybody.”
Obama added that the debate surrounding the Oscars this year is “just an expression of this broader issue of: Are we making sure that everybody is getting a fair shot?”
Oscar winners George Clooney, Reese Witherspoon, and Lupita Nyong’o also made public their feelings on the Academy’s failure to cite a broad range of nominees. In the wake of the uproar, the AMPAS announced rule changes in an effort to diversify.