Sam Smith and the Oscar Gaffe heard around the World

Last night, Sam Smith won an Oscar for the his song that James Bond movie. In his acceptance speech, he said:

"I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen, and he said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. If this is the case—even if it isn't the case—I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world."

Um, okay, Sam... However, you wasn't the first. There was Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Stephen Sondheim. And that's just in the same catagory. Classical composer John Corigliano, songwriter Howard Ashman, Sir John Gielgud... Bill Condon won for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1999, Alan Ball won Best Original Screenplay for American Beauty, and Pedro Almodóvar won Best Original Screenplay for Talk To Her. And then, Dustin Lance Black who won for Milk and even talked about being gay in his speech.

So, no, Sam's not the first. It was a simple mistake... A mistake riddled in privilege and twinkism, but hey. I didn't expect Sam to be a wealth of LGBT knowledge, but if you have a chance to win an Oscar, you should be better prepared. And he wasn't, not only for that, but the backlash. Sam was dragged for that statement. He came off like a true gay millennial, only aware of the now. Then Dustin sent out this tweet.

Hey @SamSmithWorld, if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancé. Here's a start: https://t.co/8hGTRtIaMK

— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) February 29, 2016

Wow! Anywho, it was a mistake, a gaffe that I hope Sam learned from. He's young, so he will be forgiven. However, he needs to brush up on his LGBT history if he's going to play the spokesperson.

WATCH Chris Rock's Oscar Opening Monologue

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs responds to the #OscarsSoWhite Issue

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign has truly ignited a firestorm. Besides social media, Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee are planning to boycott the Oscars.

As the fire continues to burn, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs released a statement

Is this lip service or a push for change?

Oscars Stay White again! #OscarsSoWhite 2.0

Once again, the Oscars are White as snow.

The nominations came out today and basically, every nominee is white. This year, we had stellar work from actors/actresses or color. Michael B. Jordan in "Creed", Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation”, Mya Taylor in “Tangerine” were phenomenal and yet were ignored. Director and writers of color were also ignored as well.

I'm not sure why this is not carefully watched within the industry. With the majority of the Oscar voters being white men in their 60s, I'm not sure if they're actively looking at the diversity of the film industry. It just feels like a big White Boys Club of Filmmakers. And no shade to Jennifer Lawrence, but "Joy" was basically the same role she's played in every David O. Russell film.

I'm telling you, it just doesn't feel right. So many films are getting snubbed for 'favorites' and it's not cool. I'm glad that social media is calling this out because if we don't bring attention to this, we may never have a diverse group of nominees

Patricia Arquette's Equal Rights moment lost after this statement on Gays and People of Color

Patricia gave a great speech about women's rights at the Oscars, but she ruined it with this statement after the event.



She said:

“So the truth is, even though we sort of feel like we have equal rights in America, right under the surface, there are huge issues that are applied that really do affect women. And it’s time for all the women in America and all the men that love women, and all the gay people, and all the people of color that we’ve all fought for to fight for us now.”

So women of color and queer women are not included?

I hope she realized what she said, because that didn't sit well with many, many people. On Twitter alone, several feminists and activists tweeted some interesting things. Hopefully, she will apologize later.

Ohio News Anchor describes Lady Gaga's Oscar Performance as "Jigaboo Music"

Um, Kristi Capel, an anchor for Cleveland’s Fox 8 needs some education.... Lord, I don't she knew what she was saying, but she called Lady Gaga's Sound of Music medley, Jigaboo Music



Now if you're not aware of what jigaboo means, well I can tell you it isn't cute. A jigaboo is a black person with stereotypical black features like dark skin, wide nose, and big lips. Clearly, she didn't know what she was talking about, but damn, Kristi! She later apologized on Twitter.

But you want another idea of the word, watch this clip from School Daze

So, the Oscars...

Question of the Day

Are you watching the Oscars tonight?

The Oscar nominations are Out... And the lack of Diversity is showing

The Oscars noms are out and it's not cute. Here are some of the categories:

Best Picture
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”

Actor in a Leading Role
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”


Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days One Night”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”

Directing
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”

It seems to be a White male love fest for Directors and Best Actor nominations. I woke up to angry Twitter posts about how "fratty" the Oscars look this year and here's why.

No women were in the Best Director category this year, despite of the two most talked about films, “Selma” and "Unbroken" (both directed by women). Ava DuVernay would have been the first Black woman ever nominated in the Director category.

Also for Best Actor, there are no men of color nominated at all. That's not a huge surprise, but David Oyelowo's was super strong. I can't believe he was snubbed!

It's all very interesting, considering how Hollywood has been criticized for the lack of diversity lately. Oh well... you can see the rest of the nominations here.

Neil Patrick Harris will Host the Oscars

Neil will be the host of the Oscars next year. It was on his bucket list, so it's pretty cool that he got this opportunity.

Question of the Day

Any favorite Oscar moments?

READ Lupita Nyong’o's Oscar’s Acceptance Speech

Thank you to the Academy for this incredible recognition. It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s. And so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance. And for Solomon, thank you for telling her story and your own.

Steve McQueen, you charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you so much for putting me in this position, it’s been the joy of my life. [Tears, applause.] I’m certain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they are grateful and so am I.

Chiwetel, thank you for your fearlessness and how deeply you went into Solomon, telling Solomon’s story. Michael Fassbender, thank you so much. You were my rock. Alfre and Sarah, it was a thrill to work with you. Joe Walker, the invisible performer in the editing room, thank you. Sean Bobbitt, Kalaadevi, Adruitha, Patty Norris, thank you, thank you, thank you — I could not be here without your work.

I want to thank my family, for your training [laughs] and the Yale School of Drama as well, for your training. My friends the Wilsons, this one’s for you. My brother Junior sitting by my side, thank you so much, you’re my best friend and then my other best friend, my chosen family. 

When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid. Thank you.

source

WATCH the Oscar Nominations

The full list is here

Question of the Day

What did you think of the Oscars?

Question of the Day

What are your Oscar predictions?

Question of the Day

Are you watching the Oscars this Sunday?

READ the Nominations for the 2013 Oscars

The Oscars noms are out!

The Beast of the Southern Wild, Les Mis, Lincoln and Django lead the pack.

Quvenzhané Wallis gets her first nom for 'Beasts' and Anne Hathaway gets hers for Les Mis. And yes, Django is nominated for Best Picture.

See the full list after the jump

Seth MacFarlane will host the Oscars

The comical cutie will be the host for the Oscars next year. So I guess we will hear some nasty jokes and possible Family Guy references.

Question of the Day

Well, what did you think about the Oscars? Too much, overblown or just right...

This Pic sums up the Oscars