For Fast & Furious actor Tyrese Gibson, it’s not enough for Chris Rock to joke about the lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees. He thinks that the comedian should step down from the gig.
In an interview with People today, Gibson said that there is no way for Rock to just make jokes. If Rock wants to make a statement, he has to quit.
“There is no joke that he can crack,” the Furious 7 star said. “There is no way for him to seize the moment and come into this thing and say, 'I'm going to say this and say that I'm going to address the issue but then I'm still going to keep my gig as the host. The statement that you make is that you step down.”
He went on to suggest that if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences wasn’t honoring LGBTQ actors and Rock was gay, Rock wouldn’t host.
“If the host Chris Rock was a homosexual he would have stepped down already,” Gibson said.
Gibson did praise comments Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith have made in recent days, but he said he feels bad that the work of some of his friends who were nominated has been overshadowed by the controversy.
“I feel bad on behalf of Leo that I believe this is going to be the year that he finally wins an Oscar for best actor and this is all going down,” Gibson said.
Rock already joked about the situation, calling the Oscars “the White BET Awards.” He hasn’t said anything since.