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Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith call out super-white year at the Oscars – Metro US

Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith call out super-white year at the Oscars

Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith call out super-white year at the Oscars
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As soon as the Academy Award nominations were announced last week, critics took notice of the suspicious lack of racial diversity, launching the pointed hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Super awkward, right? Well, Oscars host Chris Rock isn’t afraid of awkward. In a Twitter post for a video promoting the show, Rock slipped in a caption calling the Oscars “the White BET Awards.” Ouch.

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Not everyone is feeling jokey about the issue, though. Also on Twitter, Jada Pinkett Smith raised the idea of boycotting the show all together. “At the Oscars, people of color are always welcomed to give out awards, even entertain,” she wrote. “But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of color refrain from participating all together? People can only treat us in the way in which we allow.”

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This might be a good time to also point out that “Magic Mike XXL” was shut out from the Oscar nominations, which is also just plain wrong.

Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter: @nedrick