Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thinks the lack of diversity among 2016’s Oscar-nominated actors and directors is “really sad.”
The GOP presidential front-runner was asked about his thoughts on the race and Rev. Al Sharpton’s proposed boycott of the Oscars ceremony on “Fox & Friends.”
“I think it’s a tough situation. I think it’s really sad,” Trump said. “And you know, Al is just a guy who wants to get publicity for himself, and I understand him very well. Al would actually probably say he was a friend of Donald Trump, okay, but maybe not on television, but outside of television.”
“I think it’s a tough situation.” @realDonaldTrump on lack of diversity among Oscar nominationshttps://t.co/0BrT0aLSPU
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) January 20, 2016
Trump went on to discuss this year’s Oscar race in relation to the BET awards, which are meant to honor only African-American performers.
“I saw somebody on your show today say, ‘Well, what do we do with BET, black entertainment, right?'” he said. “Over there the whites don’t get any nominations. I thought it was an amazing interview, actually, I’d never thought of it from that standpoint.”
He then circled back to the issue at hand, and expressed solidarity with Sharpton in one sense.
“But with all of that being said, it would certainly be nice if everybody could be represented properly,” Trump said. “Hopefully that’s the case, but perhaps it’s not the case.”
Since the Oscars were announced earlier in January, many prominent entertainment industry figures, as well as some outside those circles, have blasted the Academy for choosing 20 white actors and four white directors to honor this year. The only diversity in the nominations is “The Revenant” director Alejandro G. Inarritu, who is Mexican.
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee have both said they will not watch this year’s ceremony, while everyone from Idris Elba to George Clooney have commented on #OscarsSoWhite, a Twitter hashtag that started trending almost immediately after the nominees were announced.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, addressed the controversy directly earlier this week.
“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees,” she said. “While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes.”
