The two times academy award nominee Will Smith says he will not attend the 88th Oscars ceremony on February 28th, following the diversity controversy that was unleashed after all 20 nominees in the four Acting categories were white for the second year in a row.

Since the nominees were announced last week several celebrities have manifest their intentions to boycott the ceremony calling for the Academy to take steps to ensure more diversity among both its membership and its nominees in the future.

Will Smith himself has been nominated two times for the Academy Awards: Ali (2002), and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Photo: The Hollywood Reporter
Will Smith himself has been nominated two times for the Academy Awards: Ali (2002), and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). Photo: The Hollywood Reporter

The actor decided to join his wife Jada Pinkett Smith who announced on social media that she would be skipping this year’s Oscars because of the lack of non-white actors being nominated for individual acting categories. Smith said he supports his wife’s impassioned response to the situation. He even joke about saying that if his wife’s not going, It would be awkward to show up with Charlize Theron.

The actor did not make any suggestions to the organization, but he claimed he does not blame the Academy, alone. He said that the nominations reflected the Academy and the Academy reflected the industry… and the industry reflects America. The actor continuing saying that “There’s a regressive slide toward separatism, toward racial and religious disharmony.”

Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo joined the campaing for a moment there. The white actor said to BBC News on Thursday that he supports the campaign to boycott Oscars but He later tweeted saying he will be at the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy sexual abuse and good journalism.

Ruffalo wrote in a series of tweets he supports the Oscar Ban movement’s position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community and he hopes the Oscar Ban movement opens the way for his peers to open their hearts to the #BlackLivesMatter movement as well.

But not everyone supports Smith and his wife’s position. Janet Hubert, former Fresh Prince of Bel-Air costar has been vocal against Pinkett Smith, saying, “It’s just self-contrived because her hubby didn’t get a nomination.”

Source: ABC News