DURING THE OSCARS THIS PAST WEEKEND, THERE WERE A
NUMBER OF SPEECHES THAT BROUGHT UP THE ISSUE OF DIVERSITY
AND RACISM WITHIN HOLLYWOOD.
IT IS UNSURPRISING, WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE FACT THAT
OSCARS IS THE WHITE WAS A IS TRENDING, WEEKS PRIOR TO
THE OSCARS ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE.
THAT IS BECAUSE NO BACKPACKERS WERE NOMINATED FOR ANY OF
THESE AWARDS, SO THERE WAS A LOT OF ANGER AS A RESULT OF THAT.
CHRIS ROCK DECIDED TO DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WILL
SMITH, OR JADA PINKETT SMITH DECIDED TO DO, HE HOSTED
THE OSCARS.
HE DID NOT BOYCOTT IT, AND HE GAVE REASONS WHY.
TO USE THIS PLATFORM AS A WAY OF RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT
RACISM WITHIN HOLLYWOOD, AND OF COURSE THAT LED TO A LOT OF
MIXED REACTIONS.
LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HE SAID DURING HIS TEN MINUTE MONOLOGUE.
HE SAYS, "I COUNTED AT LEAST FIFTEEN BLACK PEOPLE IN
THAT MONTAGE, AFTER HE TOOK THE STAGE FOLLOWING AN OPENING
MONTAGE OF FILMS FROM 2015.
HE WENT ON TO CALL THE OSCARS THE WHITE PEOPLE'S CHOICE
AWARDS.
IN ADDRESSING THE OSCARS IS SO WHITE CONTROVERSY, CHRIS ROCK
SAID HE DECIDED NOT TO BOYCOTT THE CEREMONY, SAYING HE THOUGHT
ABOUT IT REALLY HARD, BUT THE
LAST THING I NEED IS TO LOSE ANOTHER TOPIC AND HEART STOPPING
DATA BOYCOTTING THE OSCARS IS LIKE ME BOYCOTTING RIHANNA'S
PANTIES, I WASN'T INVITED."
>> THE MONOLOGUE WAS ALREADY SO AWKWARD, AND NOT AS A SLIGHT TO
CHRIS ROCK, IT IS JUST THAT HE WAS HITTING EVERYBODY, AND BY
THE TIME HE GOT TO RIHANNA'S
PANTIES, EVERYBODY WAS LIKE -
AND HE ACTUALLY, I THINK HE STUMBLED A LITTLE BIT ON
THAT LINE, WHICH MADE IT EVEN MORE AWKWARD.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
>>
I THOUGHT THAT LINE, THANKFULLY, LED TO A LITTLE COMEDIC RELIEF.
QUESTION IS ACTUALLY A SUPER FUNNY LINE.
>> WHAT I DID NOTICE WAS THAT THROUGHOUT THE CEREMONY HE
SEEMS TO BE PLAYING BOTH SIDES.
I GIVE HIM TREMENDOUS CREDIT FOR BEING THE HOST OF THE
OSCARS AND STRAIGHT UP CALLING HOLLYWOOD RACIST, BUT THERE
WERE MOMENTS WHEN HE WAS PLAYING BOTH SIDES, BECAUSE HE DID
NOT WANT TO BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS.
AND WHO WOULD WANT TO IN A CASE LIKE THIS?
>> MAYBE I WAS HIS INTENTION, TO MAKE FUN OF EVERYONE.
>> LET ME GIVE YOU MORE OF HIS MONOLOGUE.
"WE HAD REAL THINGS TO PROTEST IN THE 50S AND 60S.
WE WERE TOO BUSY BEING RAPED AND ALLEGED TO CARE WHO WON
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER.
WHEN YOUR GRANDMOTHER IS SWINGING FROM A TREE, IT'S HARD
TO CARE ABOUT THE BEST
DOCUMENTARY FOR AN SHORT."
>> THAT REALLY CRYSTALLIZES WHAT CHRIS ROCK DID LAST NIGHT.
THE JUXTAPOSITION IS HUMOROUS, BUT IT IS HARD TO LAUGH
BECAUSE YOU JUST MENTIONED RATES AND LYNCHES, AND YOUR
GRANDMOTHER SWINGING FROM A THREE.
BUT SOMETIMES IT IS THE JOB OF AN COMEDIAN TO MAKE YOU
UNCOMFORTABLE.
WHAT HE DID THERE WAS POWERFUL.
IN THE GUISE OF A JOKE, HE REMINDED PEOPLE, BLACK
PEOPLE HAVE GONE THROUGH SOME STUFF IN THIS COUNTRY.
YOU WANT TO CLOSE YOUR EYES TO IT, IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE,
TOO BAD, I'VE GOT AN AUDIENCE HERE AND I'M GOING TO TAKE
AVENGE OF IT TO REMIND YOU.
THAT IS ALSO PARTLY A GIG AT THE AFRICAN-AMERICANS
PROTESTING THE OSCARS.
>> WHICH IS WHY I BROUGHT UP THE POINT ABOUT HIM PLAYING
BOTH SIDES.
DON'T GET ME WRONG, OVERALL I AM BEHIND HIM, BUT YES, IT IS A DIG
AT PEOPLE WHO ARE PROTESTING THE LACK OF RECOGNITION THAT BLACK
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES GET, AND I
DON'T THINK THAT IS NECESSARY.
>> I'M NOT GOING TO NITPICK HIS EDITORIAL DECISIONS BECAUSE
I MIGHT AGREE WITH HIM, I MIGHT NOT AGREE WITH SOME, BUT AT
LEAST SHE HAD BALLS.
HE WENT BOTH DIRECTIONS, AND HE WENT PRETTY HARD IN BOTH
DIRECTIONS.
WHEN YOU TALK LYNCHINGíS, I AM NO LONGER IN A MOOD TO LAUGH.
THE MINUTE HE SAID THAT, THE COMEDIC ELEMENT WHEN OUT
THE ROOM.
BUT I WAS LISTENING, BOY HE HAD OUR ATTENTION.
TEACHER WAS A BOLD PATH.
IN SOME WAYS, I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GIVING HIM TOO MUCH CREDIT,
BUT IT REMINDED ME OF THE
STEPHEN CALLED THEIR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER,
WHERE HE JUST WENT RIGHT AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT, AND
EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM HATED IT BUT IT WAS SO FUNNY, EVEN
THOUGH THE ROOM WAS SO TENSE.
AND MORE THAN BEING FUNNY, IT WAS COURAGEOUS.
>> HE TOUCHED ON OTHER THINGS AS WELL.
. A LITTLE BIT MORE OF HIS MONOLOGUE.
HE SAYS, THIS YEAR IN THE IN MEMORIAM PACKAGE IS THIS GOING
TO BE BLACK PEOPLE WERE SHOT BY COPS ON THEIR WAY TO THE MOVIES.
HE SAYS, "YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT HOLLYWOOD IS RACIST,
HOLLYWOOD IS SORORITY RACIST.
WE LIKE YOU RHONDA, BUT YOUR NIGHTCAP BUT.
ONE OPPORTUNITY."
>> THAT IS MY FAVORITE LINE, I THINK PEOPLE AT HOME ñ I GOT THE
SENSE, AND I COULD BE WRONG, EVEN WELL-INTENTIONED WHITE
PEOPLE WERE THINKING, OKAY I GOT
IT, ENOUGH.
BUT I AM GLAD HE PRESS THAT BUTTON, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT
START CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS ONE.
BUT THE SORORITY LINE IS GREAT.
HE'S LIKE, THEY ARE NOT RACIST LIKE THE CLAN, THEY ARE NOT
AWARE RACIST, THEY ARE RACIST BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKE, THIS
IS THE ONE WE WANT IN OUR SORORITY, THIS IS THE ONE
WE DON'T, AND IF YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE, SAD DAY FOR YOU.
THAT WAS, TO ME, POIGNANT.
>> I THINK HIS SUCCESSFUL WAY OF POINTING OUT HOW RACISM HAS
TRANSFORMED OVER THE DECADES.
IT IS NOT AS VIOLENT IN SOME CASES THAN IT USED TO BE,
BUT IT HIDES IN THE WAY WE DO CERTAIN THINGS.
>> BUT EITHER WAY, YOU ARE STILL NOT IN THE CLUB.
JAYAR, I KNEW YOU WANTED TO GET IN THEIR.
>> I DID NOT WATCH, NOT BECAUSE I WAS BOYCOTTING, BUT BECAUSE I
NEVER WATCH THE OSCARS.
I'VE TRIED WATCHING IT MULTIPLE TIMES, SO OSCAR PARTY!
AND THEN
I END UP BEING LIKE ANA AT A
SUPER BOWL PARTY, WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE FOR?
I HEAR YOU, BUT SOMETIMES IT GOES OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAL
THOUGHT PROCESSES.
WE DON'T LIKE THAT CNN TRIED TO PLAY DOWN.
SOME SAY THE COWBOYS ONE, SOME SAY THE REDSKINS ONE.
YOU DECIDE.
TAKE A STANCE.
YET IT WAS GREAT THAT HE HIT EVERYONE, IT'S LIKE HE WILL
GO HOME AND TRY TO BE SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS.
WHICH ONE IS IT?
THERE IS RACISM, THERE IS EXCLUSIONARY TACTICS AND BIASES.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAVE TO STOP COMPLAINING.
ROSA PARKS, YOU SHOULD BE ILLICIT WHEREVER YOU WANT,
BUT AT LEAST THEY LET YOU RIDE.
THAT SEEMS TO BE THE TONE.
FROM WHAT I'M HEARING, I DID NOT SEE THE WHOLE THING.
>> YOUR STATEMENTS ARE BOTH FAIR AND UNFAIR.
PENNY BROUGHT OUT STACY ñ
STACEY DASH, WHO IS A CONSERVATIVE DOUCHE BAG.
THEY COULD HAVE DONE THAT FOR JUST COMEDIC PURPOSES, AND
THEN TRY TO POKE FUN AT HER WITHOUT HER SAYING A WORD.
IT WAS SUPER AWKWARD BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHO STACEY DASH
IS, UNLESS YOU ARE KNEE-DEEP IN POLITICS LIKE WE ARE.
AFTERWARDS HE TOOK A PICTURE WITH HER AND SEEMED VERY
CORDIAL WITH HER.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I THINK HE IS WELL WITHIN HIS RIGHTS TO THE
JOKE THAT HE DID ON WILL SMITH, WHERE HE IS LIKE, OKAY WILL, YOU
DID NOT GET THE NOMINATION THIS
YEAR, BUT YOU DID GET $20 MILLION FOR WILD WILD WEST.
THAT IS A FAIR JOKE.
>> I GET BACK, BUT TO SAY, YOU ARE A HIGHLY PROFITABLE
ACTOR, AND AS A RESULT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO MAKE ANY STATEMENTS
ABOUT THE LACK OF RECOGNITION IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY WITHIN
THE OSCARS, I THINK THAT IS A RIDICULOUS STATEMENT TO MAKE.
IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE SHOULD NOT POINT OUT WHAT IS GOING
ON IN HOLLYWOOD.
>> I AM SO TORN.
ON THE ONE HAND, IF I WAS WILL SMITH I WOULD NOT HAVE
PROTESTED THIS YEAR, SO IT SEEMS MORE LIKE SOUR GRAPES.
I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE LIKELY TO PROTESTED I WAS NOT IN A
MOVIE THIS YEAR.
IF I WAS NOT UP FOR ONE OF THE AWARDS, BECAUSE THAT SEEMS
LIKE, WHY DID YOU NOT GIVE IT TO ME, I AM BLACK, YOU SHOULD
HAVE GIVEN IT TO ME.
ON THE OTHER HAND ñ NOW I AM BEING CHRIS ROCK ñ A LOT OF
FOLKS SAID THIS IS NOT RIGHT, AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
THE OSCARS RESPONDED BY MAKING THE OSCARS THE MOST BLACK OSCARS
I HAD EVER SEEN.
IT WAS ONE BLACK CENTER AFTER ANOTHER.
THERE WAS MORE JOKES ABOUT OSCARS SO WHITE, THEY WOULD
NOT STOP FOR THE FIRST HOUR AND A HALF.
IT IS LIKE, OSCARS ARE WHITE AND IT IS WRONG.
KEVIN HART CAME OUT, EVERYBODY CAME OUT AND SAID IT.
WORK, THEY DID WHAT SOMETIMES REPUBLICANS DO.
THEY COMPLAIN SO MUCH THAT THEY GOT PEOPLE TO REACT.
HEAR PEOPLE SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, THIS IS NOT RIGHT, UNTIL THEY
GOT THE OSCARS TO GO, OKAY, WE WILL MAKE EVERY OTHER OSCAR
BLACK AND WE WILL MAKE ñ WE WILL KEEP MAKING FUN OF OURSELVES.
IN A SENSE, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
>> YOU WOULD HOPE THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE, WHAT ARE YOU
GOING TO DO NOW?
SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE BEING PLACATED.
WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT ñ YOU ARE RIGHT BUT FOLKS, WE WILL
MAKE FUN OF OURSELVES FOR
SEVERAL HOURS AND THEN NEXT YEAR WE WILL DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN.
IT IS EASY TO SAY, THESE IDIOTS, WILL TELL THEM, YES YOU ARE
YOU ARE RIGHT, WE ARE WRONG, THEN WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO
THE SAME THING.
I HAVE SUCH A SHORT ñ WE HAVE SUCH A SHORT ATTENTION SPAN, YOU
JUST HOPE THAT THIS IMPROVES.
WE'RE ALREADY ASSEMBLED POLITICIANS SAY THEY'RE
GOING TO DO SOMETHING, AND THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING.
>> THE LAST THING, OTHER THAN THE STAPLER BEING IN JAYAR'S
HEAD.
DOESN'T THAT LOOK LIKE A STAPLER?
>> ANYWAY.
LAST THING ON THIS, FOR PEOPLE WHO DO NOT GET IT, THERE IS A
LOT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS, IT IS THE MINDSET.
FLAUBERT'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROLES, THERE IS LATINO
ROLES, THERE ARE RULES FOR OTHER GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
BUT IRONICALLY, OTHER THAN WILL SMITH, YOU HARDLY EVER GET
A LEADING MAN WHO IS BLACK WHO IS NOT THERE TO BE BLACK,
BUT JUST TO BE A PERSON.
>> THAT IS THE POINT.
I THINK THAT IS THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM.
>> I THINK CHRIS ROCK MADE A GOOD POINT ABOUT HOW
CERTAIN CATEGORIES ARE SEGREGATED BASED ON GENDER.
BEST LEADING ACTOR, BEST LEADING ACTRESS, AND HE IS LIKE,
WHY CAN'T WE JUST INCLUDE THEM ALL IN ONE GROUP?
HOW WEIRD WOULD IT BE IF YOU HAD, BEST SUPPORTING BLACK
ACTOR?
IT WOULD BE ABSURD, SO IT IS CLEAR THAT WE HAD THAT
SEGREGATION WHEN IT COMES TO MALE AND FEMALE ACTORS.
>> AND TO BE FAIR, ALSO DENT THE WASHINGTON.
EVERYBODY ELSE HAS TO FILL A ROLE.