Will Smith Joins Wife Jada Pinkett Smith In Oscars Boycott

"We're part of this community but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK."

Will Smith will not be attending the Oscars this year, he confirmed Thursday in an interview with "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts.

"We're part of this community but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK," Smith said.

The 47-year-old actor is one of the many to address the Oscars' lack of diversity. Not a single actor of color was nominated for an Academy Award for the second year in a row, prompting the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Smith, a two-time Oscar nominee in previous years, was snubbed by the Academy this year for his role in "Concussion," though he insists it's not the entire reason that he and his wife are taking a stand.

"There's probably a part of that in there but, for Jada, had I been nominated and no other people of color were, she would have made the video anyway," Smith told Roberts. "We'd still be here having this conversation. This is so deeply not about me."

Will Smith, a two-time Oscar nominee, was snubbed by the Academy this year for his role in "Concussion."
Will Smith, a two-time Oscar nominee, was snubbed by the Academy this year for his role in "Concussion."
John Shearer via Getty Images

As the actor explained earlier in the interview, diversity is what makes America so great. And when the Academy doesn't reflect that diversity, there's a problem.

"When I look at it, the nominations reflect the Academy. The Academy reflects the industry, reflects Hollywood. And then the industry reflects America, it reflects a series of challenges that we are having in our country at the moment," Smith said. "There's a regressive slide towards separatism, towards racial and religious disharmony. And that's not the Hollywood that I want to leave behind. That's not the industry, that's not the America I want to leave behind."

On Monday, Jada Pinkett Smith posted a video on Facebook confirming that she would not attend or watch the Academy Awards in February. The video, entitled "We must stand in our power," currently has over 11 million views.

"Is it time that people of color recognize how much power, influence, that we have amassed, that we no longer need to ask to be invited anywhere?" she said in the video. "Maybe it's time that we recognize that if we love and respect and acknowledge ourselves in the way in which we are asking others to do, that that is the place of true power."

We must stand in our power!

We must stand in our power.

Posted by Jada Pinkett Smith on Monday, January 18, 2016

Spike Lee, George Clooney, Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo have all spoken out about the Oscars frustrating lack of diversity.

"The Academy has a problem. It’s a problem that needs to be solved," Oyelowo said at a gala honoring Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs on Monday night. "For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable."

#OscarsSoWhite

Behold: The official trailer for #OscarsSoWhite 2016

Posted by HuffPost Black Voices on Tuesday, January 19, 2016

"I'd like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year's nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion," Isaacs said in the statement. "This is a difficult but important conversation, and it's time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership."

Those dramatic steps can't come soon enough.

Also on HuffPost:

Idris Elba

Actors Of Color Who Should've Been Nominated For An Oscar

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot