Charlotte Rampling says Oscar diversity comments were ‘misinterpreted’

On Friday, legendary British actress Charlotte Rampling gave her thoughts on the Oscar diversity controversy. Her comments as originally reported created their own controversy, but the 45 Years star now says that those remarks were “misinterpreted.”

During an interview with France’s Europe 1 radio station Friday morning, the 69-year-old actress said that the complaints about a lack of black nominees was “racist to whites.” In a statement to CBS Sunday Morning, she explained that the comment was taken the wrong way.

“I regret that my comments could have been misinterpreted this week in my interview with Europe 1 Radio,” Rampling said. “I simply meant to say that in an ideal world every performance will be given equal opportunities for consideration. I am very honored to be included in this year's wonderful group of nominated actors and actresses.”

Since her statement was released after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced major changes to its membership rules, Rampling applauded the change.

“Diversity in our industry is an important issue that needs to be addressed,” Rampling told CBS. “I am highly encouraged by the changes announced today by the Academy to diversify its membership.”

Rampling gave her statement to CBS because she recently sat down for an interview with Sunday Morning’s Anthony Mason to discuss 45 Years. Although she has been working in the industry since the mid-’60s, she earned her first nomination for Best Actress for the film.

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.