Moments ago, the nominations for the Oscars 2016 were announced. And while the list brought with it an honor for Urban hit ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ glaringly apparent was one worrying fact:
Not a single actor or actress of color received a nomination in any of the in the four main acting categories. This despite 20 slots in total being up for grabs.
Full story below…
The revelation will only serve to fuel movements such as the #OscarsSoWhite cause, which calls for greater diversity from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Publicly, the body has made some effort to make the membership more inclusive – inviting 322 new members this past Summer; adding the likes of ‘Selma’ star David Oyelowo, and ”Compton’ director F. Gary Gray into their mix.
One has to wonder how much of an impact that move made.
Important to highlight, however, is that the voting panel are ultimately at the mercy of the industry itself and whatever films are produced and released in a given year.
And within the eligibility window, it’s arguable that only a handful of award-caliber films focused on ethnic stories. Pictures such as Compton and African-based ‘Beasts of No Nation’ serving as the most prominent.
From an acting standpoint, waving the flag for Black actors in prominent roles were the likes of Will Smith in ‘Concussion,’ Michael B. Jordan in ‘Creed,’ Idris Elba in ‘Beasts’ and Samuel L. Jackson in ‘The Hateful Eight.’
Were any of those movies or performances nomination worthy? We argue “yes” (resoundingly), but will (as ever) throw it over to you.
What are…
Absolute BS! Not even a damn nomination to elude to them having a chance…
Meanwhile an Asian person haven’t been nominated for years, and y’all didn’t give a F about that.
But hey who cares right? Mainstream entertainment is only for white people and black people.
it clearly is only for white people only. Look at the tv landscape after empire and HTGAWM, damn you now have a bollywood actress as lead of her own tv show.
You have ONE bollywood actress as a lead of a show. After how many years?
I’m not saying black people are treated equally in mainstream media. But you do find mainstream black actors and artists. More than just a couple of few.
But if you’re born asian, it’s impossible for you to even get a chance. Because, who will listen to an asian rapper or rnb or pop singer right?
Or who would want to see an indian or chinese guy take on the role as the main actor?
Take The djungle book for instance. It’s an indian story with characters named by indian names. But the only indian guy cast, was the young boy. And nobody gives a F about that.
you are soooo right!!!!
You’re stupid. It clearly says “actors of color” not black actors you idiot. PLEASE think before you speak.
Come through focus!!! lol These girls don’t pay attention
i was about to post the same thing! imagine an arab actor being nominated. it will not happen anytime soon. let’s just nominate the same actors for the 5th time then….
An Arab actor? You trippin’. Like White America would ever allow that.
What’s so tackless about your comment is that you didn’t have to throw shade at the black community for the racism that faces asians. Stop using others as a platform for your own agenda. The point was made that NOT ONE PERSON OF COLOR was nominated. So you can retract your offensive comment now.
Offensive comment? How was my comment offensive?
It said “actors of color” but all the examples they took up were black people.
Where was the article all those years(that is almost every year) when no Asian or middle eastern people weren’t nominated?
So let’s not act as if TGJ wrote this article because they felt like the Asian community weren’t represented.
THANK YOU
What movie would an asian actor or actress would have been nominated for? mainstream ,please because while I agree with you TGJ came with receipts you did not. All of those movie were big names .
HENCE my Point! Asians or middle Eastern people don’t get cast in Hollywood! THEY DON’T GET THE CHANCE.
Nor do they get the opportunity to become artists.
Why? Because mainstream media is only used to seeing first White people and then black people.
That’s the truth.
Furthermore I don’t understand why Concussion should get nominated.. It’s gotten mixed Reviews and I’ve never seen a Movie with such a rating grabbing a nominee.
And no, regardless of how good the actor is, he or she will only grab a nomination if the Movie is good as well. There’s no surprise there.
I’ve not seen Beasts of No nation but Idris Elba definately deserve an Oscar at some Point of his career.
Don’t get mad at us just because Black people are willing to take a stance. Maybe Asians should start standing up for themselves for a damn change.
There aint no Asian actors in Hollywood that do movies stfu
no black winners, i blame the academy, but no nominations i blame the industry and indirectly the audiences. Support more diversity and you will see more diversity. How many black actors/actresses are big huge box office draws? Why should the studios invest in them. White people just have better opportunities to really impress.
The Oscars have always been for white people. Who cares? N***** always turning their noses up at our awards like NAACP Image Awards and BET Awards but cry when the “other” awards shows don’t recognize us. Who. Gives. A. F***.
^^^THIS, EXACTLY
I feel you. We should give our own communities attention rather than begging white people to care about us. The sad part is that the entertainment industry was created by black people but hey whatever.
That word “Ni*** is so disgusting, and only a Ni*** would use it. Civilize yourself.
Only a WHITE person would create it.
It is worst for Asians.
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Ok here are the facts, there aren’t that many black people in movies save for the mixed race, light skinned, has to stand in the dark, and squint your eyes to see if they’re actually black actors, visa-vi, there won’t be many black actors getting nominations.
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Hollywood is generally “white”, I don’t think that fact wil change any time soon.
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In Music, there are Soul Train Awards, BET awards….etc, all generally snubbed by big black artists who throw a fit when not nominated for a Grammy but don’t show up when nominated for a Soul Train Award.
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How can we ask for people to support us when we are unwilling to support ourselves. I mean what has Giselle ever done for the black community besides make girls feel insecure about their natural hair? That’s just an example.
I agree with you for once. Like boo hoo stop crying for acceptance and start supporting your own stuff. Cry me a f****** river, I’m so over the whining.
Then the beyonce want to play a black woman cuz she want a nod… shame oneher.. she doesn’t zvzn have the body for that role
Big artists never show up to black award shows. It’s weird? Like once they get a certain amount of fame they try and tend to white America. Idk.
Great points!
I don’t get why blacks get so mad about this. The Academy Awards, Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globes etc… Were created to award & honor WHITE talent 1st & foremost. The MAJORITY of America is WHITE. The biggest consumers are WHITE. Blacks (and any other race) are GUESTS on these WHITE WASHED award shows. That’s why we had to create our own awards/channels. Black artists have got to stop turning their nose down on shows like “Soul Train” & “Bet”… Because, they’re OUR award shows. We must support and be proud.
.
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Asian’s don’t give a f***! You know why? Because, they have their OWN culture. The Asian community is MASSIVE. They have their own pop stars, award shows, Hollywood etc… An Asian person doesn’t need WHITE approval to justify their talents. You rarely hear them complaining about not winning or getting nominated for anything. Why? Because, they know what’s up! They get it. It’s a WHITE dominated industry & market. That’s like a white person going to Japan, and complaining about why he/she isn’t being nominated for such & such… Even though the MAJORITY of talent is ASIAN, the biggest consumers are ASIAN, the academy voters are mostly ASIAN & it’s an ASIA dominated market. I mean, it’s pretty obvious buddy.
I’m just mad I can’t up vote your comment a billion times!! Very well said.
The same thing for Latin communities. But the difference is that black people are the only race that cares about white people’s opinions of us. Think about it. The Latin Grammy is for LATIN people. Why should black people allow white people to be in the music industry if all the genres were literally created by black people? EDM country pop soul etc started with Motown and was white washed by them. It’s not fair but it’s only black people’s fault. As a whole white America cares less about people of color led alone black people unless they’re appropriating for profit(Miley Cyrus for example). Twerking was trashy before Miley got white people to like it. Get it? It’s ridiculous.
I freakin love this comment! Bravo!
What are you talking about? Ofcourse they give a F****!
HOLLYWOOD is worldwide. It’s what people around the World SEE! I’m not talking about a japanese native guy getting cast in the next James Bond Movie. I’m talking about the people that have an asian background and but are born and raised in western countries but don’t get the chance to be a part of the western media they grow up in just because of THE WAY THEY LOOK!
Also it’s sad that you have such a narrow minded approach and seperate people so much. What we as a society should strive for is equality amongst ALL.
Jennifer Lawrence, the most overrated actor in Hollywood. #OscarNoms
She´s great. They shouldn´t nominate her this much. But that doesn´t make her bad. She´s so young and already fantastic from the start.
Thing is, you can’t have Denzel Washington win an Academy Award for Best Male Actor the one year and then the next go around, when you don’t find any Black people nominated for any of the awards, let alone the main awards, you’re explanation is: “Oh, well. The Oscars have always been a White award show.” No! Don’t f*** with people’s heads like that, especially people who’re still trying to find their way out of an oppressive state of living.
Most of of you on here are Hypocrites. Support black shows yes, but you all are the SAME ONES who discredit them as irrelevant. So now that our people are being snubbed, all of a sudden, support black award shows, please. You all are Willie Lynched morons.
Don’t watch don’t care and that goes for all of hollyweird
Oscars globes emmys et al
Serious question why do yall care about it
I say its time to tune out reality tv included
Might be good for some but the images provided for us are negative or we are excluded
Forget them and their mess plant a garden in spring ride a bike walk crochet its time to decelop non media based interests
As the media has a hand in our destruction f the Oscars
When I saw the nominees, I was actually surprised. I remember last year the Oscars got backlash because they didn’t nominate one person of color and they did the same thing this year. I honestly thought that Will Smith was going to be nominated and I am very surprised that he’s not but of course Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated once again! I’m surprised Meryl Streep isn’t nominated!!
“Meanwhile an Asian person haven’t been nominated for years, and y’all didn’t give a F about that.
But hey who cares right? Mainstream entertainment is only for white people and black people”
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This comment tho>>>
Blacks always looking for White approval.. This crap happens every year get over it….
No it s doesn’t blacks are usually nominatied, this is the first time in years where their aren’t ANY POC noms except for original song.
@stephy
The Hispanic and (ASIAN communities in North America/Europe) cry about the lack of acknowledment from their people as well. (It’s most Asians from actually Asia who don’t care.)
Also Hispanic/Latinos have a whole Latin Grammys where their people are awarded (FunFact: In 2013, 9.8 million people watched the Latin Grammy Awards on Univision, making the channel a top-three network for the night in the U.S.)
Maybe its because the biggest black film maker right now is Tyler Perry and movies like Ride Along seem to be the kind of movies that black audiences are drawn to? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But u can’t have 3 movies with legit black leads released in a year and then act surprised that they didn’t make the top 5 performances of the year.
You sound delusional
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No Creed
No Tangerine
No Beasts of No Nation
No Straight Outta Compton
No Concussion
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Just to name a few critically acclaim blacks films. And don’t say youb not known or haven’t heard because I guarantee you haven’t seen or heard of some of the films and a act/actresses nominated (ps. Some of them are a f****** joke)
Uh no. None of those movies you named (while excellent) were worthy of replacing any of the nominated ones. Be realistic.
Everything is not a damn scandal. Like Viola Davis said, black people can’t win awards for roles that aren’t there. Since there were only a hand full of Oscar worthy black performances last year, the odds of all or any of them making the Oscar cut is slim because believe it or not, there were a lot of talented white performances last year too. Our issue is not with the academy awards, it’s with the lack of opportunities in Hollywood.
True. There’s not nearly enough representation and opportunity.
DONT LIKE THE NOMINATIONS, DONT WATCH!It’s a really a simple concept. Hit em where it hurts viewership and ratings. The promblem is the same ones crying and complaining are the same ones watching/tweeting. Thus giving these people the chance to do it again.
Like the person above said, the issue isn’t the awards, its the industry. Awards are a reflection of the industry at the time. The truth is that there are way more worthy performances from white actors then there are for black, hispanic, Asian, or any other non-white actors. When there is less than 5 worthy performances from POC, then of course they won’t be nominated. The issue is that the industry doesn’t give actors of color a chance. When was the last time a hispanic or Asian actor had the lead role in an Oscar worthy film? Out of those times, how many of those movies were “ethnic” movies about a specific culture or heritage? Its as if the only time actors/actresses of color get any worthy roles, they are stuck in these tired ethnic films. What if the lead actor for The Big Short was an Indian? Or a black man in Bridge of Spies? The only way this will change is if the industry allows POC more opportunities.
Like a said thre are MANY black leading films and blacks acrors in movies this year that were Oscar worthy of at least an nomination. And if wre are using then excuse there being better or more white performances, why were the most mediocre films, actors and actresses nominated?
I knew it. I already called it months before the nominations were revealed. Everyone, look around us and at the media. Right now in society, black people are stronger than they’ve EVER BEEN before. Bill Cosby was LITERALLY about to take over NBC, we’ve been able to peacefully protest and move mountains when in numbers in regards to social justice, etc. White America CANNOT ALLOW US TO ADVANCE. Just think about the Oscar’s as a way for them to cut us down in size JUST A LITTLE as their way of saying that we don’t mean anything to them, although that’s not true because they’re scared to death of the power that we now have and what we might do to them with it. This is their little way of acting out against us to try to slow us down.
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These nominations are so stupid and the same b******* time and time again. Jennifer Lawrence for “Joy”? Really, who would’ve guessed? Her performance in the previews ALONE was dry as hell and I’ve been telling everyone I know that. At this point, I’m convinced that there’s some type of deals being made behind the scenes for her to keep getting these nominations. She’s an Oscar darling and something is being set into place for her to stay in the spotlight in that area.
Lastly, Matt Damon for “The Martian”? Honestly? His performance was mediocre at best just like it was in “Interstellar”. Even Matthew McConaughey did a way better job in the movie and should’ve been nominated for it. Heck, Anna Hathaway was more convincing too.
The Martian was pretty much like Interstellar but with Damon as a lead instead
It was literally a continuation of the movie, but just his little side of the story being told instead. His performance was the epitome of mediocrity.
another aWHITEs show I won’t be watching
I wonder how Chris Rock feels about this..last time he got announced to host it he said he’d he pissed if there are no black noms
The funny part is that most of you complaining are the same people that call the BET awards EBT and call the Soul Train awards irrelevant,,learn to support your own and stop looking for white approval.. I mean except last year, when was the last time you saw Rihanna on BET awards? What has she done for the black community?
Donated hospital equipment in Barbados
@Lb thats all she has done??? WOW!. @ Lmfao my point exactly,she hasnt been there in years but only last year to promote her single,so now that she was flooping,she decided to use BET awards (the same awards she has paid dust for years) to promote her single??
She was actually there last year tbh but didn’t perform sadly smh only there to promote her then single “B**** Better Have My Money’
Why are awards for talent so important for Americans? If its so important why don’t you (people of colour in America) make your own awards. These stupid oscars nearly 100 years when Black people were barely beginning to enjoy equal civil status with white people, it isn’t shocking that’s they don’t include black artists. PS: now you know how Native Americans feel everytime you praise those savers and land thieves you call “founding fathers” but that’s whole different debate.
Well, no black actor had a role that deserved it this year. If you complain you should complain about black actors not getting the good roles (not being given them), but don´t complain about these nominations.
Great nominations overall. I´m just so glad the modern masterpiece that is Mad Max Fury Road ended being as recognized as it is being by the serious awards ahows and critics. Not to be expected months ago. But it made it! So deserving and refreshing for award season.
The most random nominations are probably the Kate Winslet, the Jennifer Lawrence and the Matt Damon ones. Not that deserved. If they were willing to give these 3 a nomination then they should have also gone with Charlize Theron in Mad Max, who at least was in a better film and became the sta of it.
Gaga is killing it critical acclaim wise. So deserved too.
Hate to say it BUT we can talk until we loose our breathe; ONE OF THOSE A LIST BLACK ACTORS WILL NEED TO BE THE MARTIN LUTHER KING OF THEIR CRAFT!!!!!!!!!!
Stand up Black Hollywood; being quite hasn’t got you NO WHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!