East Asian Hollywood stars have reacted angrily to a “patronising” apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its “tone-deaf” attitude at this year’s Oscars.
Two dozen Academy members, including the two-time Oscar-winning film-maker Ang Lee, Star Trek actor George Takei and the actor Sandra Oh, published an open letter to organisers on 15 March, complaining about “tasteless and offensive skits” based on racial stereotyping at this year’s ceremony. Now the Academy’s response has been dismissed out of hand by Takei, and the industry site Deadline says that it “basically reads like a form letter”.
And the Oscar for best sorta apology after making Asian jokes goes to...The Academy. https://t.co/VtmidKMS7W pic.twitter.com/gEz9orUhwS
— E! Online (@eonline) March 15, 2016
“It was a bland, corporate response,” Takei told the New York Times while labelling the letter “patronising”. He added: “The obliviousness was actually shocking. Doesn’t anyone over there have any sense?”
Deadline reports that none of the 24 Academy members who signed the initial complaint has been asked to meet Oscars organisers. The site furthermore suggests the apology letter from Hudson fails to address demands for “concrete steps” to address complaints over racial stereotyping.
The 24 Academy members wrote the open letter in response to skits in the later stages of last month’s broadcast, during which host Chris Rock introduced three children of east Asian descent named “Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz”, who he said were “the accountants” who had tabulated the Oscars results. Sacha Baron Cohen also made a joke about the size of Asian genitalia during his appearance in character as Ali G.
“In light of criticism over #OscarsSoWhite, we were hopeful that the telecast would provide the Academy a way forward and the chance to present a spectacular example of inclusion and diversity,” wrote the 24. “Instead, the Oscars show was marred by a tone-deaf approach to its portrayal of Asians.”
In her apology letter, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson wrote: “It certainly was never the Academy’s intent to offend anyone. We are committed to doing our best to ensure that material in future Oscar telecasts be more culturally sensitive. It pains us that any aspect of the show was considered offensive, and I apologise for any hurt the skits caused.”
Boone Isaacs has been under intense pressure since the #Oscarssowhite row over racially homogenous acting nominees at the past two ceremonies. On 15 March, the Academy fulfilled its promise to add new board members from diverse backgrounds, appointing Oscars producer Reginald Hudlin, Selena director Gregory Nava and Kung Fu Panda stalwart Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The New York Times reports that the organisation has also added women and people of colour to a number of committees and moved to remove voting rights from inactive members.
- This article was amended on Thursday 17 March 2016. We originally said that AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs wrote a letter apologising to the group offended by jokes during the Oscars broadcast. In fact it was the Academy’s CEO, Dawn Hudson. This has been corrected.
