Six times Chris Rock confronted #OscarSoWhite controversy during Academy Award

By
Bisola Bello
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Actor and comedian, Chris Rock, hosted the 88th Academy Award held on Sunday, February 28 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

As expected, Rock used the opportunity to confront the “Oscar So White” controversy that trailed the award show after the nominee list was announced with no black nominees in the acting category.

Here are six times Chris Rock teased #OscarSoWhite controversy during the show:

  1. Chris Rock’s opening speech made mockery of Oscar’s nominee list when he made a quirky remark that was directed at the lack of diversity in the awards show. “Well, I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White Peoples Choice Awards,” he said.
  2. Rock could not help but take a swipe at the Academy Award every chance he got. After a commercial break, the 51-year-old opened up with a simple yet hilarious statement, “We’re black!” What he should have said was “We are back.”
  3. Rock did not mince words when he directly revealed that there is racism in Hollywood. “Is Hollywood racist?” he asked. “You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist.” he said. “Is it ‘burning cross racist’? No. Is it ‘fetch me some lemonade racist’? No. It’s a different type of racist. … Hollywood is ‘sorority racist.’ It’s like, we like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.”
  4. When he was about to introduce actors Rachel McAdams and Michael B. Jordan to present an award, Chris had this to say: “Now, please welcome one of this year’s nominees, Rachel McAdams, and a shoulda-been-nominee, Michael B. Jordan(a black actor).
  5. He also joked that if they nominated hosts for the show, a white man would be on the stage instead of him. “If they nominated hosts I wouldn’t even get this job so you’d be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.”
  6. Rock ended the night with the biggest jab of all when he shared a critical message with the audience, “I’d like to invite everyone to the BET Awards this summer. This has been amazing experience! Black lives matter!” It should be noted the BET Awards is a show that celebrates African- American celebrities.

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