George Clooney weighed in on the controversy surrounding the 2016 Academy Awards and the lack of diversity in this year's nominees after zero actors of color were nominated for the second year in a row.
"If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job," Clooney told Variety. "Think about how many more African-Americans were nominated."
"Think around 2004, certainly there were black nominees - like Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman. And, all of a sudden, you feel like we're moving in the wrong direction. There were nominations left off the table," he continued. "There were four films this year: 'Creed' could have gotten nominations; 'Concussion' could have gotten Will Smith a nomination; Idris Elba could have been nominated for 'Beasts of No Nation'; and 'Straight Outta Compton' could have been nominated."
Clooney's comments come after Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Cheryl Boone Isaacs issued a statement on the topic, saying the "Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership," according to Entertainment Weekly.
In the week since the Oscar nominations were announced, director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith have both said that they will boycott the award show by not attending the ceremony, as HNGN previously reported.
"We need to get better at this," declared Clooney. "We used to be better at it."
