Charlotte Rampling, an Academy Award nominee for best actress, revealed on Friday that she believes the boycott against the Oscars is “racist against whites.”
Speaking fluent French in an interview with France’s Europe 1 radio, the British actress said that one would “never really know” how the Academy makes their decisions, and that “sometimes maybe black actors didn’t deserve to make the shortlist.”
Earlier this week, the director Spike Lee and the actress Jada Pinkett Smith said that they would not be attending the February 28th Oscars ceremony in protest of the all-white nominations. Mr. Lee later clarified his statement saying that he only suggested that Hollywood studios institute a policy similar to the NFL’s requirement that teams interview minority candidates for head coach and senior staff jobs.
Ms. Rampling, who is a member of the Academy and thus able to vote on Oscar awards, said she disagreed with the recent boycott. “We live now in countries where anyway people are more or less accepted,” she said. “There are always problems: ‘He’s less handsome’ or ‘He’s too black’ or ‘He’s too white.’ There will always, always be someone who will say, ‘Oh, you’re too ….’ What are we going to do? We’re going to classify all that to create thousands of little minorities everywhere?”
When asked what she thought of the fact that many minority actors still feel that they lack the recognition they deserve, Ms. Rampling gave a clear “no comment.”
The backlash against Ms. Rampling was quick and felt on Twitter:
LRT: I’m glad this Oscar boycott thing is happening if only to see these racist ass white actors show their racist asses and be seent.
— Mia McKenzie (@miamckenzie) January 22, 2016
@miamckenzie @BlackGirlNerds I hear 3 things: 1. Ignorance 2. Media attention 3. Jealousy
— Charles T Franklin (@creativedropout) January 22, 2016
Charlotte Rampling proving that only people who have never experienced racism use the phrase ‘racist against white people’.
— The Malcontent (@TheMal_Content) January 22, 2016
Charlotte Rampling, one of 20 white actors now nominated for an Oscar, thinks #OscarsSoWhite is “racist to whites.” https://t.co/zeAJCZvxKJ
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 22, 2016
Here’s a translation of what Charlotte Rampling said on Europe 1 Radio:
Q. This year the Oscars are beset by polemics: No black actor or actress in the selection for the second year in a row. Do you understand the anger of, for instance, Spike Lee, who called for a boycott of the ceremony?
A. No. I find that goes in the other direction: it’s racist against whites.
Really?
Yes. We can never know if it’s really the case. Sometimes maybe black actors didn’t deserve to make the shortlist.
He explains that he wants to instate quotas for minorities in American cinema so that they can make it into the selection.
Why classify people? We live now in countries where anyway people are more or less accepted. There are always problems: ‘He’s less handsome’ or ‘He’s too black’ or ‘He’s too white.’ There will always, always be someone who will say, ‘Oh, you’re too…’ What are we going to do? We’re going to classify all that to create thousands of little minorities everywhere?
The fact that they still feel like a minority, that doesn’t speak to you? They feel like a minority. They say, ‘We’re black actors and we still don’t really exist.’
No comment.
Ms. Rampling is up for an Oscar for her performance in Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years, about a couple whose 45th wedding anniversary is clouded by news from the past. The movie was released in France this week.
