Will Smith, who some expected to receive an Oscar nomination for Concussion, is joining wife Jada Pinkett Smith in refusing to attend this year’s Academy Awards. In a new interview, the actor said that he doesn’t feel that the Academy reflects America’s diversity.
During an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, which aired this morning, Smith said that the Oscars are missing out on what makes America “great”: its diversity.
“So many different people from so many different places adding their ideas, their inspiration and their influences to this beautiful American gumbo,” Smith said.
“For me, at its best, Hollywood represents and then creates the imagery for that beauty,” Smith continued. “But for my part, I think that I have to protect and fight for the ideals that make our country and make our Hollywood community great... So when I look at the series of nominations of the Academy, it's not reflecting that beauty.”
Smith said that he was not in the U.S. when Jada decided to announce on social media that she was boycotting the Oscars. When he heard what she said, he was “knocked over” and proud to be married to her. He said that it would be uncomfortable for him to go to the Oscars without her.
“There is a position that we hold in this community, and if we're not part of the solution, we're part of the problem,” Smith said of his wife’s comments. “It was her call to action, for herself, and for me and for our family to be a part of the solution.”
While Smith praised the performances that were nominated for Oscars, he said that the second consecutive field of nominees without a black actor makes the Oscars feel “like it’s going the wrong direction.”
Smith, like Spike Lee did earlier this week, stressed that it is important for Hollywood to change behind-the-scenes, not just within the Academy.
“This is a marriage and I look it as this sort of big, giant multi-interracial marriage but the marriage is in a space where divorce is not an option,” the two-time Oscar nominee said. “We're all in this together. We got to figure it out and we got to make it right.”