IFWT_ChrisRock

In a tweet of his Oscars promo video, Chris Rock called the highly criticized awards show “The White BET Awards.” Some may take this statement as him simply stating that this show is doing for caucasians exactly what the BET Awards does for African-Americans, while others have taken it as a shot at the Oscars.

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As per usual, promo commercials and ads were all shot prior to the announcement of the nominees. Rock had no clue the show would lack diversity and snub many of his peers of well-deserved nominations when he agreed to be host.

At the BET Awards most, if not all, of those recognized are African American artists and there has been small conversation in the past about the show lacking diversity. What people forget is that the BET Awards was created to recognize those who would otherwise not be honored for their hard work; it’s purpose was never to be diverse. On the other hand, the Oscars IS supposed to be diverse and solely based on the body of work, sales, reviews, etc; race isn’t supposed to play a role at all. For this reason, many are upset by the nominations this year.

The question is now, will Chris Rock remain the host and if so, why? Obviously there are contracts in place that tie him to the role as host of the awards show, even if he doesn’t want to do it anymore. Still, this could go many ways: Chris Rock could quit and not do the show at all which could ultimately be damaging to his career. He could be radical like artists such as Amiri Baraka who used their work to make bold statements while reaching the masses. He could simply even use comedic techniques to make light of the situation.

Being the guy he is we’re sure he has something up his sleeve, it’s just unclear what it is.

Will you be watching this year? What do you think Chris Rock will do? Let us know in the comments!