Actor and singer Tyrese Gibson seems to be standing by his disapproval of black comedian Chris Rock hosting the Academy Awards. The Baby Boy star also said he is heartbroken over the timing of this year’s #OscarsSoWhite discussion.
“It breaks my heart that this controversy about the Oscars is happening on the year that we all believe [DiCaprio] is going to win the Oscar for best actor,” the star said of his friend Leonardo DiCaprio, who is nominated for his lead role in the film Revenant.
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Gibson and his new co-host, Reverend Run, stopped by TheGrio during a press tour for their new relationship talk show on the OWN Network It’s Not You It’s Men, but his continued frustration over the Academy Awards was obvious.
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Gibson took to Instagram earlier this week and questioned whether Rock should still host the award show in late February.
Wednesday, Gibson doubled down on his social media statements.
“No one wants Chris Rock to not feed his family and get a gig that he is excited and proud about,” Tyrese said. “No one knew that no one of African-American descent was gonna end up getting an Oscar nomination for maybe two or three years in a row.”
Gibson continued by saying that African-Americans should take a page from the LGBT community when it comes to protesting being shut out of the award’s major nominations.
“If Ellen DeGeneres or Andy Cohen of Watch What Happens Live was hosting the Oscars and the word got out that if you happen to be gay or homosexual you got blackballed and no nomination because of your sexual preference, they would have stepped down a long time ago,” Tyrese said. “And it would have been fire heat controversy all over the place until the system changed.”