Whoopi Goldberg Loses It Over Oscar Diversity Boycott
Things got a little heated on The View when the panel discussed the lack of diversity in this year’s Oscar race. Recently, prominent black voices in cinema such as Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith have called for a boycott of the ceremony. This didn’t sit well with host Whoopi Goldberg. “You know Chris Rock is the host of the Academy Awards,” explained Goldberg, “So to boycott him seems just as bad as what everybody’s saying.”
Guest host Sunny Hostin was quick to point out several statistics relevant to the topic, like the fact that 46% of movie tickets last year were purchased by African-Americans, and that the Academy is 94% Caucasian. But Whoopi did not back down from her point, which was that it falls more on the people making films to create a diverse environment than it does on the Academy that votes. During the conversation, Candace Cameron-Bure seemed to feel a little left out and joked with Joy Behar. Cameron-Bure’s childish act set off Whoopi even more, and she responded, “I talk about God; you gotta talk about these damn movies.” It’s worth noting that Cameron-Bure left the panel after that segment and didn’t return. Whoopi covered for her, saying she was “not feeling well.”
Hostin tried to punctuate the discussion by comparing this Oscar boycott to the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. Goldberg jumped in one more time. “You wanna boycott something? Don’t go see the movies that don’t have your representation,” said Goldberg. “That’s the boycott you want.”
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