The 'Concussion' actor decides to join his wife to boycott the Academy Awards due to its all-white nominees.
- Jan 22, 2016
AceShowbiz - Will Smith broke his silence on Jada Pinkett Smith's decision to boycott the Academy Awards due to lack of diversity in the nominations list. The 47-year-old actor who is highly praised for his main role in football drama "Concussion" is set to join his wife in her act to steer clear of the Oscars this year.
"No," he said when asked on "Good Morning America" if he would go to the show. "My wife's not going. It would be awkward for me to show up with Charlize [Theron]," he joked. "We've discussed it and we're a part of this community, but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say this is okay."
"The nominations reflect the Academy, the Academy reflects the industry - reflects Hollywood. The industry reflects America. It reflects a series of challenges we're having in our country at the moment. There's a regressive slide towards racial and religious disharmony. That's not the Hollywood I want to leave behind," he added. "That's not the America I want to leave behind."
Will said he was "knocked over" by his wife's criticisms towards the Academy and he "appreciated the push" to take the stand. He explained, "There's a position we hold in this community, and if we're not part of the solution, we're part of the problem. It was her call to action for herself and for me and our family to be a part of the solution."
The actor was nominated for the Oscar twice in the past and he lost to fellow black actors during both occasions. "To me, that was huge," he commented. "So when I see this list and series of nominations that come out - and everybody is fantastic. That's the complexity of this issue. ... But it feels like it's going in the wrong direction."
In a Facebook video, Janet Hubert who co-starred with Will Smith on "The Fresh Pince of Bel-Air" accused Will and his wife of boycotting the Oscars only because he did not get nominated for "Concussion". "I was looking at this ridiculousness people called a historic moment and I was annoyed," she said.
"I was annoyed because it dilutes the movement when you only stand up for yourself," Janet added. "I'm a real freedom fighter. I'm not a pretend freedom fighter. I stand up for other actresses, other people. The Smiths just irked me because they are such pretenders, and everything is a photo op. It's just self-contrived because her hubby didn't get a nomination."
"They have got to get over [themselves]. You ain't all that. You're not kings and queens. You're not royalty. You're simply entertainers," Janet slammed the couple. "Get over it. You got a Golden Globe nomination. You should be happy."
In his "GMA" interview, Will did say that his own snub was "probably a part" in his wife's decision to speak out. He, however, added, "for Jada, had I been nominated and no other people of color were, she would have made the video anyway. We'd still be here having the conversation anyway. This is so deeply not about me. This is about children who are going to sit down and watch the show and not see themselves represented."
Jada, meanwhile, defended herself in a new video, "This whole Oscar controversy isn't really about the Oscars. Really, in my plea to ask all communities and people of color to take back our power is so that we can use it in all sectors of our community, and right now, specifically with African-American people, we have some very serious issues that I think we as a people have to move together on."
She continued, "I'm hoping we can find ways to step together in this instead of finding ways to fight each other. I got love for everybody."
The Smiths are not the only celebrities slamming the Academy over its all-white nominees. The other critics are Spike Lee, Lupita Nyong'o, David Oyelowo, and George Clooney. 50 Cent and Tyrese Gibson even urged Chris Rock to step down as a host while Quincy Jones will only accept the offer to present award if he can talk at the ceremony about the issue.
"When I'm back [in L.A.], I'm going to ask [them] to let me speak for five minutes on the lack of diversity. If not, I'm not going to [present]," the music producer explained. "There are two ways to do it. You can boycott or you can fix it. It's frightening to see 90 percent white and 80 percent white male. It's ridiculous. It's wrong."
