People: Calls for boycott of Oscars grow over diversity of nominees
Calls for a boycott of the Academy Awards are growing over the Oscars’ second straight year of all-white acting nominees, as Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith each said Monday that they will not attend this year’s ceremony.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Lee said he “cannot support” the “lily white” Oscars. Noting that he was writing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lee – who in November was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards – said he was fed up: “Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all,” he wrote. “We can’t act?!”
In a video message on Facebook, Pinkett Smith also said she wouldn’t attend or watch the Oscars in February. Pinkett Smith, whose husband, Will Smith,wasn’t nominated for his performance in the NFL head trauma drama “Concussion,” said it was time for people of color to disregard the Academy Awards.
“Begging for acknowledgement, or even asking, diminishes dignity and diminishes power,” she said. “And we are a dignified people and we are powerful.”
Last year’s all-white acting nominees also drew calls for a boycott, though not from such prominent individuals as Lee and Pinkett Smith. Whether it had any impact or not, the audience for the broadcast, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, was down 16 percent from the year prior, a six-year low.
This year, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs has made a point of presenting a more inclusive show. The Feb. 28 broadcast will be hosted by Chris Rock and produced by “Django Unchained” producer Reginald Hudlin and David Hill.
McLean accused of domestic violence
Don McLean, the singer-songwriter best known for the classic “American Pie,” has been arrested in Maine on a domestic violence charge. The 70-year-old was arrested early Monday on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and released from Knox County Jail after a couple of hours on $10,000 bail.
Police responded to a 911 call made around 2 a.m. from the Camden, Maine, home he shares with wife Patrisha McLean. The singer was arrested without incident, Camden police Chief Randy Gagne said. The charge is the lowest level of assault crime.
Patrisha McLean, Don McLean’s wife since 1987, is a photographer. The couple, who have two adult children, have lived in Camden for more than 20 years.
The singer has a Feb. 22 appearance scheduled at Knox County Superior Court in Rockland, Maine.
The birthday bunch
Actor Fritz Weaver is 90. Actress Tippi Hedren is 86. Actress Shelley Fabares is 72. Country singer Dolly Parton is 70. Singer Dewey Bunnell (America) is 64. Actress Katey Sagal is 62. Comedian-impressionist Frank Caliendo is 42. Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson is 24.