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You won’t be seeing Will Smith atthis year’s Academy Awards. The Concussion star revealed on Good Morning America, Thursday, that he will be skipping the 2016 Oscarsalong with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith. He said, "At this currenttime we're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is okay.”
The Smiths’ decision not toattend Hollywood’s biggest night follows the firestorm surrounding the lack ofdiversity at this year’s awards show. Not a single actor of color was nominated foran award, prompting Will’s wife to sound off on social media and post a powerfulvideo message.
Photo: Getty Images
In her Facebook video Jada said,“Begging for acknowledgment or even asking diminishes dignity and diminishespower.” She continued, “I will not be at the Academy Awards and I won’t bewatching.”
In regards to his wife’s video,Will admitted, "I appreciated the push. There's a position that we hold inthis community and if we're not part of the solution, we're part of theproblem."
The 47-year-old, who noted, “[I’ve been]nominated twice for Academy Awards and I’ve never lost to a white person,” wassnubbed at this year’s Oscars despite receiving a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in Concussion.
In his GMA interview, the actorinsisted that his wife would have made her video even if he "had beennominated and no other people of color [were]." The dad-of-three stressed,"This is so deeply not about me, but rather,'"This is about childrenthat are gonna sit down and they’re gonna watch this show and they're not goingto see themselves represented."
Will said, “I think that I have toprotect and fight for the ideals that make our country and make our Hollywoodcommunity great and when I look at the series of nominations – it’s notreflecting that beauty.”
Photo: Getty Images
That’s not to say that Will doesnot respect this year’s nominees. He explained, “Everybody is fantastic and that’s the complexity of thisissue. Everyone is beautiful and deserving and is fantastic, but it feels likeit’s going the wrong direction.”
He added, “When I look at it, thenominations reflect the academy. The academy reflects the industry, reflectsHollywood and the industry reflects America. It reflects a series of challengesthat we are having in our country at the moment. There's a regressive slidetoward separatism, towards racial and religious disharmony. That’s not theHollywood that I want to leave behind.”
Oscar winner George Clooney hasalso spoken out on this year’s Academy Awards' controversy saying, “we're moving in thewrong direction.” 2014's best actress winner, Lupita Nyong'o admitted in an Instagram post that she is "disappointed by the lack of inclusion in this year's Academy Awards." Standing with her peers calling for a change, she continued, "The Awards should not dictate the terms of art in our modern society, but rather be a diverse reflection of the best of what our art has to offer today."
Photos: Getty Images
Addressing the United Kingdom's Parliament, Beasts of No Nation's Idris Elba said, "Diversity in the modern world is more than just skin color -- it’s gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, social background, and most important of all, as far as I’m concerned -- diversity of thought. Because if you have genuine diversity of thought among people making TV and film, then you won’t accidentally shut out any of the groups I just mentioned."
In a BBC interview, actor Mark Ruffalo said, "It isn’t just the Academy Awards. The entire American system is rife with white privilege racism. It goes into our justice system.” The Spotlight star also revealed that he is considering boycotting the awards show along with Will and Jada.
Photo: YouTube
However, one person who does not sympathize with the Smiths’boycott against the Oscars is Will’s former onscreen aunt, Janet Hubert, whoplayed Aunt Viv on the Fresh Prince ofBel Air. In a YouTube video, the 60-year-old actress addressed Will’s wife saying,“Girlfriend, there's a lot of sh-- going on in the world that you all don'tseem to recognize. People are dying. Our boys are being shot left and right.People are hungry. People are starving. People are trying to pay bills. Andyou're talking about some motherf---ing actors and Oscars. It just ain't thatdeep.”
Janet continued, “I find it ironicthat somebody who has made their living, made their living and made millionsand millions of dollars from the very people that you're talking aboutboycotting just because you didn't get a nomination, just because you didn'twin? That is not the way that life works baby!”