Lenny Henry Swipes At Will Smith And The BBC For Being 'Too White'

Sir Lenny Henry has taken a swipe at both Will Smith and the BBC for being ‘too white’.

The veteran comedian and actor didn’t pull his punches during an interview with the Sunday People, published yesterday.

The 57-year-old took Smith to task over his failure to stay close to his roots.

“If a movie makes more than a hundred dollars, some black people stop being black – they become Will Smith,” he said.

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He also added that films and TV do not represent the multi-cultural society they are being written in.

“Until writers and directors reflect what is happening they won’t represent us properly,” he went on.

“The Oscars were ridiculous. The only brown person nominated was the bear in the Leo DiCaprio film 'The Revenant’.”

The BBC didn’t escape his criticism either, which he called an 'oppressive institution’.

“I worked at the BBC for 35 years before I had a meeting with anyone who looks like me,” he recalled. “The only people like me were cleaning the corridors and that is not right.

“You walk into the Beeb and it is very, very white. That is not anybody’s fault. You can be in an oppressive institution and not be an oppressor.

“All the diversity work that has been going on is appreciated – but until behind the camera is sorted out you are not going to see much change.”

Remarks by 'The Force Awakens’ star John Boyega were also broached, in which Boyega said that complaining about the situation will not help.

“John is in Star Wars so he can say that,” said Henry. “Meritocracy works on a level playing field. But what if it’s not level and people who don’t look like you are making the decisions?

“This is not personal. This is for people who get doors slammed in their face because it does not fit, or they are in a wheelchair, or they are a woman, transgender or gay.”

Henry’s comments come following the government’s White Paper which laid out the future for the BBC, one part of which discussed further diversity within the Corporation.

Added Henry: “We are at the beginning of change. There is still work to be done.”

Image credits: PA/AP