Kevin Ross The Podcast

Does “Oscars so White” still slap?

Episode 6
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Rather than deciding between a discussion about the Motion Picture Academy’s ongoing diversity problem, or the latest Chris Rock, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith drama, Boss Ross combines both topics in a way that just might surprise you. 

FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

​​​​​​​​You are now listening to theGrios black podcast network, black culture amplified.

Hi, I’m Kevin Ross. And this is The Podcast. Does “Oscar So White” Still Slap?

Real talk. Racism at the Academy Awards is the reason why this battle between Chris Rock and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith continues to be waged. It all started with a tweet in 2016. A twitter rant. Yes. A twitter rant becomes this viral phenomena that actually results in more Black representation at the Oscars. Less than 10 years later does it even matter? Have we been there done that? Yeah, I’d say many are done with #Oscarssowhite.

At least it feels that way. Now, Chris, Will and Jada, well, that’s another story, we could debate, theorize, argue, breakdown for hours. Seriously. I remember back in the day, was it, was I in law school? Well many moons ago, right? I saw this woman wearing a shirt that said, “I’m tired, I’ve been black all day”. I knew exactly the message being conveyed because when you’re black, oftentimes there’s this obligation, this responsibility to represent, defend, explain, provide context and or support for all things black. I certainly felt it beginning in my teenage years. Later I even started writing op ed pieces about race and one of them was a community essay in The Los Angeles Times called ‘Why Oscar’s Not Ready for Its Close Up: Hollywood: A few figureheads don’t make up for the dearth of minorities and entertainment’. At the time, I was an attorney and President of the Organization of Black Screenwriters and I wrote on March 23rd that despite entertainment being one of America’s top exports and this multibillion-dollar industry, only one, out of 166 nominees at the 68th Academy Awards, was black.

It was Dianne Houston, a Howard University grad, who was the first and so far only African-American woman nominated for a film she directed. The category was best live action short and it was called Tuesday Morning Drive. Other than her, there was no one else black, that year.

I went on to discuss how fewer than 200 or 3.9% of the 5,043 Academy members who nominated and chose winners were black. Less than 3% of the directors and writers guild memberships were black. Blacks accounted for less than 2% of the 4,000 members of the Set Decorator, Property Masters Union. Is that some suspect Shiitake mushrooms or what? Now, sports and music talent, they don’t roll like that because they’re paid based on objective standards, objective performance. But in the business of show and tell, I reasoned that the game still being played was hide and seek.

Even Whoopi Goldberg as the host and Quincy Jones as a producer, couldn’t remove that stench of discrimination in the motion picture industry. A self regulated industry. I might add.

I concluded by saying that obviously everyone’s not invited to the cast party but fairness demanded that Hollywood start the inclusive camera rolling, not now but right now. Now, two days later after my op ed came out, the 66th Academy Awards took place. It was March 25th of 1996. I wrote that Article 27 years ago. Fast forward to January 14th 2016, that’s when all 20 Oscar nominations in the 88th Academy Awards acting categories went to white performers for the 2nd year in a row.

And that’s when activists and former lawyer April Rain took to Twitter. Quote, it’s actually worse than last year, best documentary and best original screenplay, that’s it. She then included the hashtag #Oscarssowhite Rain also noted that while white writers of the film ‘Straight Outta Compton’ earned a best screenplay nod. It’s black cast was completely overlooked. So what happens? Well, Jada Pinkett Smith announces a boycott. Will her husband, by the way, didn’t get a nomination for best actor in the film ‘Concussion’. So she was not happy but even President Barack Obama weighed in on the matter. Six weeks later, ceremony takes place, it was February 28th 2016, Cheryl Boone Isaacs was present and accounted for as the third woman and the first black person ever to be President of the Academy.

Now, the show was produced by the multitalented brother Reginald Hudlin and Chris Rock ends up serving as host. During his monologue, the comedic genius took a direct shot at Jada mocking her boycott and dismissing her relegating her to she’s a TV actress, right? She didn’t even get invited, to the Oscars. This is about film. What is she boycott? Ouch!

Start to get juicy? You agree? Well, okay. Okay. Hold up, hold up. Let me put a pin in that for a second. Looking at the eight years before and after #Oscarssowhite, A USC Annenberg study found that 8% of nominees between 2008 and 2015 were from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups.

Post the oscarssowhite era, meaning between 2016 and 2023, that number has increased to 17%. Eight years prior to #Oscarssowhite women represented 21% of Oscar nominees. In the eight years since that number jumped to 27%. But are there enough of us who want to tackle substantive issues or is it nag? Go, go, go back to Will and Jada and Chris Rock? Fine!

In case you’re living in a different galaxy, Chris finally addressed on his Netflix Comedy special this past weekend, among other things, the smack slap he endured at last year’s 2022 Academy Awards from Will over a perceived Jada dis involving her alopecia hair condition. Man woo, Chris Rock, maybe a featherweight but talk about landing some heavyweight punches, woo man! Yeah, more on that. Please, I can literally hear you all saying these words: Who cares that before 2002, no black woman had ever received an Academy Award for best actress? And after Halle Berry won for ‘Monster’s Ball’, which in my humble opinion was just so-so, no other black woman has won since. I know, I know, I know, I know I’m killing the vibe. Is Will going to allow Chris Rock to get away with calling his wife out her name? Hm.

Never mind how Hattie McDaniel who broke the racial barrier in 1940 as the first person of color to win an Oscar for her supporting role as a sassy maid in ‘Gone with the Wind’ wasn’t even allowed to sit with her co-stars in the Coconut Grove nightclub inside the Ambassador Hotel with the ceremony was held. It’s ancient history that she had to sit at a tiny table in the back room used to store the Oscar trophies, because of the hotel’s strict quote unquote, no blacks policy. We’re not trying to do a deep dive about how Ms. McDaniel couldn’t even party with her co-stars afterwards that night because the chosen club where they all went to celebrate also refused admittance to black folks.

But hey, most of these 2022 nominated films haven’t been seen and it’s not like the average black person is impacted by any of this. So move on Boss Ross, Will also stop tripping. Listen, I get it. When I wrote my L.A. Times piece I didn’t work in entertainment. I do now.

And trust me, whether it’s L.A., Atlanta or New York, the stylist, the makeup people, the set crew, sound techs, editors, drivers, security, food preparers, stage managers, camera operators, my God, the writers, the talent – We’re all paying attention because this is how these black folks pay their mortgages myself included. This is how we pay our rent. This is how we cover the cost of school clothes and college tuition.

Hell, this is how we support other Black owned businesses. So is it whatever when it comes to the Oscar broadcast airing Sunday, March 12th this Sunday on ABC? Uh, I don’t kind of think so. Does #Oscarssowhite still slap? Well in the words of Ice Cube, Yeah! Yeah! And while neither Chris, Will nor Jada will be present, I’ll be pulling for my Morehouse brother Brian Tyree Henry, who’s up for best supporting actor in the film ‘Causeway’.

We’ve also got Angela Bassett for best supporting actress for ‘Black Panther’. ‘Black Panthers’ included in nominations for best visual effects, makeup and hairstyling, original song ‘Lift Me Up’ featuring Rihanna and Tems who FYI is the first Nigerian artist to receive a nomination. And of course best costume design for the Oscar winning four time nominated Hampton grad, Ruth Carter. That’s everyone folks. That’s all we got this year when it comes to black nominees at least. And to that, I’ll say two words- Wakanda forever!

And then it’s back to tape in my daytime syndicated show America’s Court with Judge Ross because whether it’s film, television or streaming representation matters for the culture and all of us!

Just ask your boy Tyler Perry who now wants to return Black Entertainment Television to its former status of being majority black owned. And by all means, don’t count out my boss, Byron Allen, owner of the Weather Channel HBCU Go and yes, even TheGrio, he’s also interested. More on that next time.

Chris, Will, Jada, behave yourselves now. 

I’m Kevin Ross and this is The Podcast powered by theGrio. Follow me @Iambossross on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.