The Oscar are NOT very diverse in the acting categories for the second year in a row, as you may have heard. (Btw, the Academy is made up of 94% white males.) Self-described “blacktress”, Janet Hubert, who played Will Smith‘s Aunt Vivian on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, slammed the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, over her boycott of the Oscars this year. Though Pinkett Smith’s husband was nominated for a best actor Golden Globe for his role in Concussion, he was excluded from Academy’s 2016 list of nominees. Hubert, however, said there were countless other issues to prioritize.
“I’ve been trying to figure out: Do I really want to do this? Yeah, I do. Today, being the celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday and hitting 60 years old … I want to say something to Jada Pinkett Smith asking other black actors to boycott the Oscars. First of all, Miss Thing: Does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak?”
The second thing, girlfriend, there’s a lot of shit going on in the world that you all don’t seem to recognize. People are dying. Our boys are being shot left and right. People are hungry. People are starving. People are trying to pay bills. And you’re talking about some motherfucking actors and Oscars. It just ain’t that deep.”
Hubert also took issue with Pinkett Smith’s request for other black actors to boycott the 88th annual Academy Awards.
“Here’s the other thing, for you to ask other actors to jeopardize their careers … You know damn well, you don’t do that. They don’t care! I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living and made millions and millions of dollars from the very people [who are doing this] … That is not the way life works, baby. It’s very suspect to me.”
The actress recalled a story involving Smith during their stint on the popular ’90s sitcom.
“I seem to remember at option time, coming to you and saying … ‘With you, maybe we can get a little raise.’ [We thought] your influence would help us greatly like they did on Friends.”
According to Hubert, Smith didn’t help Hubert and his Fresh Prince costars negotiate their salaries, replying at the time:
“‘My deal is my deal, and y’alls deal is y’alls deal.'”
Hubert concluded her video message with some harsh words directed at the Smiths,
“Maybe you didn’t deserve a nomination. I didn’t think, frankly, you deserved a Golden Globe nomination. You ain’t Barack and Michelle Obama. And y’all need to get over yourselves … You are a part of Hollywood. You are a part of the system that is unfair to other actors.”
She finished off with a note to those who thought she was doing this out of malice.
“It’s not about being bitter. It’s about being right.”
Well, she’s entitled to her opinion, sounds like there’s a bit of personal vendetta mixed in… I have a feeling Jada might punch back. Jada’s video is below. Watch both and then sound off on Facebook as to who you side with.
(via Us Weekly)
