AceShowbiz -

David Oyelowo, who is best known for playing Martin Luther King Jr. in "Selma" when the Oscar nominations were announced last year, has addressed the lack of diversity in the current roster of nominees. David slammed the Academy at a gala honoring Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs on Monday night, January 18.

"The Academy has a problem," David told the audience at the King Legacy Awards, held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, where he was presenting Cheryl with an award named after civil rights icon Rosa Parks. "It's a problem that needs to be solved."

The 39-year-old actor revealed that Cheryl had privately met him to discuss his omission from the nominations. "A year ago, I did a film called 'Selma', and after the Academy Awards, Cheryl invited me to her office to talk about what went wrong then," he recalled. "We had a deep and meaningful [conversation]. For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable."

The "Interstellar" actor continued, "The reason why the Oscars are so important is because it is the zenith, it is the epitome, it is the height of celebration of artistic endeavor within the filmmaking community. We grow up aspiring, dreaming, longing to be accepted into that august establishment because it is the height of excellence. I would like to walk away and say it doesn't matter, but it does, because that acknowledgement changes the trajectory of your life, your career, and the culture of the world we live in."

David added of the current Academy, "This institution doesn't reflect its president and it doesn't reflect this room. I am an Academy member and it doesn't reflect me, and it doesn't reflect this nation. "We have a situation whereby currently the biggest movie in the world and of all time ['Star Wars: The Force Awakens'] is led by a black man. That film was knocked off the top spot this weekend by a film led by two black men, 'Ride Along 2'. The biggest TV show on the planet is led by black people, 'Empire'."

David criticized the Academy for not moving quicker. "The Academy is an institution in which they all say radical and timely change cannot happen quickly," he shared, "It better happen quickly. The law of this country can change in a matter of months. It better come on. The Oscars is on February 28. Cheryl needs us to pray that by that date, change is going to come. We need to pray for Cheryl, we need to support Cheryl, we need to love Cheryl. We cannot afford to get bitter, we cannot afford to get negative. But we must make our voice heard."