Sylvester Stallone nearly joined Oscars boycott

The #OscarsSoWhite controversy has led to many an impassioned declaration of boycotting by actors who would typically attend the ceremony. One A-lister you won't find watching the awards from home, though, is Creed co-star Sylvester Stallone.

Fox News reports that Stallone spoke at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon on Monday about his deference of Creed director Ryan Coogler in the matter of whether or not to attend the ceremony when the controversy broke out. "I remember I spoke with Ryan Coogler when this happened, and I said, ‘How do you want to handle this? Because I feel like you are responsible for me being here,'" Stallone said.

"Michael [B.] Jordan, every time I looked in his eyes as an actor, I said, he was making me better," Stallone continued. "I think he should’ve been given a lot more respect and attention. [Coogler] goes, ‘Sly, just go there, try to represent the film, and we feel you deserve it. Eventually things will change.’”

Stallone is nominated in the category of Best Supporting Actor, and he is the only member of the Creed cast to receive a nomination, constituting a notable snub of lead actor Michael B. Jordan, who earned critical acclaim for playing the title role in Creed. Jordan was also praised for his performance in Fruitvale Station (2014), Creed director Ryan Coogler's first feature film, which was similarly ignored by Oscar voters.

According to the Smithsonian, in being nominated twice for an Oscar for the role of Rocky Balboa, Stallone joins a group of only five other actors-among them Paul Newman and Cate Blanchett-whose role reprisals in different films earned them Academy Award nods.

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