Oscars All-White Nominees, Noms Lack Diversity

© Barry Wetcher

This is the whitest Oscars since last year - For the second year in a row, every acting nominee at the Academy Awards is white.

Oscar contenders such as Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation), Michael B. Jordan (Creed), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Tessa Thompson (Creed), Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton), and Will Smith (Concussion) all missed out on nominations Thursday morning. Straight Outta Compton and Creed were also left off the list of Best Picture nominees.

After the 2015 Oscar nominations, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended on Twitter, and ignited a firestorm of conversation around the lack of diversity both in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and Hollywood in general. This year, the hashtag was popular again, with many journalists and observers calling out the Academy Awards for a lack of representation.

#OscarsSoWhite: Year two.

-- Glenn Whipp (@GlennWhipp) January 14, 2016

#OscarsSoWhite is back! Not a single person of color among the 20 acting nominees. And #StraightOuttaCompton no best picture.

-- John Horn (@JGHorn) January 14, 2016

Oh boy #oscarssowhite ...#again

-- Joanna Robinson (@jowrotethis) January 14, 2016

Dear Academy, #OscarsSoWhite? Again? In a year with CREED, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, and BEASTS OF NO NATION? What more did you need?

-- Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 14, 2016

No black actors/directors nominated for the second straight year. Travesty. Hope host @ChrisRock addresses this. #OscarNoms#OscarsSoWhite

-- Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) January 14, 2016

Congratulations to all the white people nominated for Oscars! #OscarsSoWhite

-- Kia Makarechi (@Kia_Mak) January 14, 2016

Yikes #OscarsSoWhite again.

-- Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) January 14, 2016

Last year, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs addressed the lack of diversity at the Oscars, noting, "The Academy has no power over Hollywood. We have nothing to do with hiring. What we can do, however, is to get them to widen their normal stream of thought."