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Sharpton to lead protest on Hollywood diversity at Oscars

Maria Puente
USA TODAY
The Rev. Al Sharpton talks to reporters after meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Feb. 16, 2016, in New York.

The Rev. Al Sharpton's agenda is endlessly crowded — Black Lives Matter, voting rights, meeting with presidential candidates, even celebrating Ray Charles at the White House — but he's taking time out to deliver a scolding to Hollywood for its dismal diversity record on the most important night of its year: Oscars night.

Sharpton's National Action Network announced Thursday a "nationwide TV tuneout" of the Academy Awards broadcast Sunday night, and a series of demonstrations and rallies to protest the lack of women and minorities in the movie industry in general and in this year's major Oscar nominations in particular.

"Join the Rev Al Sharpton, Hollywood community and leaders across this nation as we take a unified stand for DIVERSITY, INCLUSION and JUSTICE in Hollywood," Sharpton's organization posted on its website.

"Let's send a strong message that diversity in the film industry must be more than a hollow promise."

Sharpton, a pro at organizing instant protest rallies for issues he cares about, will lead a rally in front of Hollywood High School at 2 pm Sunday, not far from the Dolby Theater where the Oscar ceremony takes place. Similar rallies are scheduled in front of local TV news stations in Ohio, Michigan, New York, Miami, Washington, D.C. and Miami on the same night.

On Wednesday night, Sharpton was at the White House to attend the taping of In Performance at the White House's celebration of Ray Charles, and posted selfies from the event.

The dearth of diversity in Hollywood is not new; what's new is that for a second year in a row, all of the major acting Oscars will be going to white people.

Plus, a USA TODAY analysis of forthcoming movies this year found a similar dearth of women and people of color, suggesting a third year of #Oscarssowhite at the 2017 Oscars.

No A's for effort on H'wood's diversity report card

Sharpton's forces are trying to persuade some of the millions of Americans who watch the Oscars every year to tune out. Already, some major stars, such as Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, have said they plan to do something else Sunday night.

Two major black directors, Ava DuVernay (Selma) and Ryan Coogler, also won't be there because they'll be at a free fundraising show they're organizing in Flint, Mich., that night. They're trying to call attention to the shocking lead-in-the-water crisis in Flint — a city with a large population of poor, black children.

Coogler's film, Creed, about a black boxer, is tipped to win the best-supporting actor award, which would go to Sylvester Stallone.

Activists organize fund-raising show for Flint on Oscar night

If large numbers of viewers tune out the Oscar broadcast, that might help demonstrate that diversity supporters have power, although Oscar boycotts have not had much impact in the past.

But it's already clear that diversity does well at the global box office, according to a new study by UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.

The annual study, one of several on Hollywood diversity released just this week, found that movies make more money when exactly half their casts are non-white, according to an analysis released Thursday that shows an increasing demand for diversity in film.

In previous years, movies did better at the box office if two or three of the top eight billed actors were non-white. The latest review, examining 2014 ticket sales of the top 200 films, shows four of eight is the magic number, said Darnell Hunt, director of the center.

The best-performing group — movies in which half the main cast was non-white — had a median ticket revenue of $122.2 million, more than double the $52.6 million median haul for films with no non-white actors in the top eight. Films where more than half the actors in the main cast were non-white also had a median of just $52.4 million.

"These aren't momentary glitches. It's the handwriting on the wall," Hunt said, suggesting that the numbers show how out of touch the academy is in nominating only white actors and male directors.

After the uproar over #Oscarssowhite erupted in January with the announcement of the Oscar nominations, the Academy announced plans to expand its 6,000-plus voting membership — now dominated by older white males — in hopes of eventually producing a more inclusive slate of nominations.

But those measures are unlikely to have much effect on movies released in 2016, most of which have already been cast and filmed if not yet released.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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