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Will Smith Won’t Attend the Oscars Due to Nominations Diversity Controversy
Will Smith has revealed he's officially decided to skip the Oscars over the highly-publicized controversy surrounding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' lack of diversity in their 2016 nominations.
"At this current time we're uncomfortable to stand there and say this is OK," the 47-year-old actor said during a Thursday, Jan. 21 appearance on Good Morning America.
Will and Jada at the Oscars in March 2014.
Will's admission comes just days after his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, 44, publicly bashed the Oscar nominations in a video message posted to her official Facebook page for only recognizing white actors in the major categories.
"I appreciated the push. There's a position we hold in this community and if we're not part of the solution, we're part of the problem," the Concussion star said of his wife's video. Will further insisted Jada would have made the clip even if he "had been nominated and no other people of color" were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AddJCPv6Rs0
"There's going to be children who are gonna sit down and watch this show and they're not gonna be represented," he continued. "The nominations reflect the Academy, the Academy reflects the industry… and the industry reflects America. There's a regressive slide toward separatism, toward racial and religious disharmony."
