Snoop Dogg: 'The Oscars Weren't Made For Us'
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- 26 Feb 2020
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The star says the Academy "doesn't understand" some of the films featuring black actors or directed by black film-makers.
By Lucy Cotter, Arts and Entertainment Correspondent, in Hollywood
Rapper Snoop Dogg has told Sky News the Oscars "weren't made for us".
He was speaking at the All Def Movie Awards in LA - billed as the black Oscars and hosted by Chris Rock's brother and airing on the same day as the main event.
It celebrates films largely ignored by the Academy, including Straight Outta Compton, which charts the rise of the rap group NWA.
Snoop Dogg told Sky News other movies including Creed and Beasts Of No Nation were not snubbed, the problem is with the event itself.
"I don't feel like they were snubbed, the Oscars weren't made for us, so this event should be something that we could look and say 'this is for the great writers, actors, directors who make music and movies and TV that they don't understand'."
Hollywood is increasingly being criticised for being a straight, white boys' club which is experiencing an inclusion crisis with the issue of diversity coming under the spotlight again in recent weeks after the Oscars failed to have a single non-white acting nominee for the second year in a row.
Some high-profile stars are boycotting Sunday's ceremony.
Others are opting to go to a charity fundraiser hosted by director of Selma, Ava DuVernay, and Creed director Ryan Coogler.
A few, including Eva Longoria, will be making their point on the red carpet by wearing brown armbands to highlight the lack of Latino actors in the industry.
And it is not just a question of race.
Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy has been nominated for Carol - a lesbian love story widely thought to have been snubbed by the Academy after failing to pick up a best picture or best director nomination.
Nagy believes the problem is a wider one within the industry and not just the Academy.
"The tricky issue was the fact that the two leads are female and a third large supporting character is also female, so the males have necessarily a lesser supporting role and I think that makes for some tricky financing prospects ...
"There is an issue with the kinds of material generated at ground level, studio level, that perhaps the Academy is catching flak for."
Renowned London-based street artist Pegasus has taken his latest work to LA.
A response to the #oscarssowhite campaign, it depicts a malnourished child holding an Oscar, his message being that privileged actors should get some perspective and focus on more pressing issues.
