During an interview with The New York Times, Lee Daniels criticized the people behind the #OscarsSoWhite movement.
While the industry itself has acknowledged that there is a discrimination problem at the core of the entertainment industry, which affects the ability of people of color to get good roles, Daniels thinks that discrimination is not the problem. Work ethic is.
–Lee Daniels says racism isn’t ‘real’ because he doesn’t ’embrace’ it–
“Go out and do the work. Oscars so white! So what? Do your work. Let your legacy speak and stop complaining, man. Are we really in this for the awards?” he said.
“If I had thought that way — that the world was against me — I wouldn’t be here now,” he added. “These whiny people that think we’re owed something are incomprehensible and reprehensible to me. I don’t expect acknowledgment or acceptance from white America. I’m going to be me.”