Oscars 2020: Leslie Jones sends out a message to the Oscars for lack of representation

The Oscars 2020 saw its fair share of controversies ever since the announcement of its nominees. Recently, Leslie Jones called out the Academy over lack of diversity amongst the nominated individuals. The comedian turned actor revealed to a news portal that she skipped voting on most of the Oscars categories as there were no people of colour in them. 

Leslie Jones sends out a message to the Oscars for lack of representation

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The Saturday Night Live alum was invited to join the Academy in 2017. The actor mentioned that it did not take her long as she voted for just a few people and abstained from voting further on. She did this to send out a message that the Oscars lacked diversity and failed to include people of colour despite commendable performances.

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Leslie mentioned that she voted for Cynthia Erivo for her spectacular role in the biographical drama Harriet. Currently, Cynthia is the only woman of colour competing for the Best Actress award at the Oscar 2020. Leslie also shared a hashtag to draw more attention to the subject, with the title “More black people please”. Her comment received mixed reviews over Twitter as fans called her a racist for choosing a person of colour over several others.

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Jones responded to the criticism mentioning that she has indeed voted for others as well and the post only served as a medium to spread awareness. Previously, the BAFTAs and the Academy have been heavily criticised for lack of representation. It was reported by a news portal that despite having films nominated for various categories, many female filmmakers did not make it to the list of nominees.

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