Thursday, March 28, 2024

Al Sharpton to Lead Oscar Protest Sunday Near Venue

Rev. Al Sharpton listens to President Barack Obama speak about race relations, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, February 18, 2016 in Washington, DC. President Obama met with African American faith and civil rights leaders before an event to celebrate Black History Month.
Rev. Al Sharpton listens to President Barack Obama speak about race relations, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, February 18, 2016 in Washington, DC. President Obama met with African American faith and civil rights leaders before an event to celebrate Black History Month.

*The Rev. Al Sharpton is hosting a rally on the day of the Oscars to protest Hollywood’s lack of diversity and call for a nationwide TV tune-out of the ceremony.

The demonstration will be held just a few blocks from the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are presented. Other rallies are planned in New York, Virginia, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan, reports the Associated Press.

“When you have an industry where 40% of the theater-goers are people of color, but the representation of people of color in the Academy is much smaller, you have a situation that is offensive and insulting,” Sharpton told Variety in January, shortly after Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith and Spike Lee announced their intention to not support the show.

For the second consecutive year, all of the acting nominees are white. Sharpton says it’s reflective of a larger problem throughout the entertainment industry.

“It’s much broader. It’s industry-wide, but I think that the most dramatic and the most optical in terms of relevance is the Oscars,” he told Variety. “It’s also the one to more easily organize people around. People don’t have to come out to a march. People don’t have to do anything. People can just turn the dial. Since they have tuned us out in Hollywood, we can tune them out at home.”

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