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Michael Moore Joins Oscars 2016 Boycott

Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore will boycott this year’s Oscars.

The 61-year-old documentary filmmaker has spoken out about Hollywood’s ‘white-dominated’ culture… which he claims has led to the omission of black actors and directors at the awards for the second year in a row.

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During an interview with The Wrap, Moore addressed the lack of black actors in this year’s Oscar nominations… and stated that he plans to join the boycott, which continues to gather steam.

“The idea that we could go two years in a row, where 40 actors could be nominated and none of them were black, is just crazy,” he said. “I absolutely support what they are doing, and I will be happy to join them. I thought about this all day, and I don’t plan to go to the show, I don’t plan to watch it and I don’t plan to go to an Oscar party.”

Michael Moore was himself awarded an Oscar for his 2002 documentary, ‘Bowling for Columbine’… and is well known for his more liberal views.

And this time, it looks as though he won’t stand for inequality in Hollywood.

“I say that as a proud member of the Academy, as someone who still sits on the executive board [of the Documentary Branch], as someone who knows full well that [AMPAS president] Cheryl [Boone Isaacs] and [CEO] Dawn [Hudson] are doing their best to fix the situation.”

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has already issued a statement explaining that she’s ‘heartbroken’ at this year’s nominations… and Michael Moore states that he believes that she really wants to make a difference.

“I know from being in meetings with her and Dawn that they were insistent in having a diverse Academy long before this year,” he said. “They are not looking for tokenism or symbolism – they want this thing fixed, and I believe they will accomplish that. This is not a PR move on the part of the Academy.”

“But the idea that we could go two years in a row, where 40 actors could be nominated and none of them were black, is just crazy. So if it will help to lend my name to what Spike and Jada are doing, I’m hoping to be a symbolic participant in this [boycott].”

But Moore insists that the real problem is with the movie industry at large.

“A fish rots from the head down and the head is over there in this industry,” he explained. “The problem has to get fixed in the studio system, which has been a white-dominated, male-dominated industry forever.”

But as an Academy member, will Michael Moore vote in this year’s Oscars?

“I haven’t thought about that,” he said, pausing. “It always feels weird in a democracy to say you’re not going to vote. I don’t know if I can utter words like that.”

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Picture Credit: MGM, WENN