The lack of diversity in the entertainment industry has been a problem for a while, but things escalated this year after the nominations for the 2016 Oscar’s were announced.
None of the people nominated for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, or Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards were people of colour. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started trending immediately.
At tonight’s BAFTA awards, Sacha Baron Cohen took to the stage and took a stab at the problem.
He said:
“The main reason I agreed to present at this awards ceremony is that BAFTA has shown none of the discrimination and prejudice which is so shamefully on display at the Oscars. It gives me great pride that every year BAFTA makes sure that one of the lead actress nominees is a dame Dench…Smith. The nomination for best white actress goes to…”