Spike Lee On Andrea Riseborough's Nom Over Viola Davis: 'The Academy Has A History'

The Academy Awards' exclusion of Black female artists from the Best Actress category has been a leading subject for weeks especially given Andrea Riseborough's nomination over Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler.

Many have had their say about the matter, including fellow Black creator Spike Lee, who recently dished his thoughts, pointing at the Academy's history and its efforts to include diversity in voting.

Ever since the Academy released their 2023 list of nominations, overlooking Black actresses, particularly Davis for "The Woman King" and Deadwyler for "Till" in the Best Actress category, criticism arose.

The critics were against Riseborough getting a nom for her performance in the low-budget film "To Leslie" after a last-minute campaign from celebrities. This led to the Academy conducting an investigation and reviewing their guidelines. However, they eventually maintained the British actress' nomination.

Lee, in a recent interview with The Guardian, shared that he had nothing explicit to say about the situation, but he was delighted for Angela Bassett and his longtime costume designer, Ruth Carter, getting nominated.

Speaking cryptically about the controversial situation, the "BlacKkKlansman" director said, "It gets tricky when you get these awards things. And the Academy has a history with… – The Academy has a history, let's leave it at that."

Although the "She's Gotta Have It" director did not elaborate, he insisted that the "whole #OscarsSoWhite hashtag" made an impact, causing the Academy to endeavor to make changes by bringing diversity to the voting body.  

As fans are aware, there has been an endless struggle with the Oscars acknowledging Black movies, affecting even Lee, who has a history of being snubbed for awards.  In 1990, "Driving Miss Daisy" won Best Picture over his comedy "Do the Right Thing"; the latter was not even nominated in that category but in two others.

Thirty years later, in 2019, Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" lost to "Green Book" in the same category, reportedly triggering the 65-year-old to express revulsion and leave in a huff. However, "BlacKkKlansman" won an Oscar at the time for best-adapted screenplay.

Nevertheless, Lee was awarded an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar, but that didn't douse his fire. Months after the accolade, he became a leading promoter of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. In addition, he led the 2016 boycott of the Oscars, following the second year in a row where no person of color was nominated in any acting category.

While many spoke up for Davis regarding being snubbed from the 95th Academy Awards nominations list, she eventually broke her silence with a defiant Instagram post.  As The Blast reported, she stayed hopeful and stood in solidarity with the director of "The Woman King" Gina Prince-Bythewood, who called out the Academy for overlooking women of color for years in the industry.

After sharing a picture excerpt from GPB's opinion piece on The Hollywood Reporter about the matter, the "Suicide Squad actress" began in her caption, "Allyship = Active support for the rights of a marginalized group without being a member of it. THIS is what's missing."

She added that artists are rarely the sponsors of campaigns, even if it is a "grassroots" one led by peers or backed by "multi-million industry dollars." Davis believed those who were attentive to her work would notice the Black people's predicament and either "contribute to it or hinder it."

In conclusion, she proclaimed, "I stand in solidarity with Gina Prince-Bythewood (@gpbmadeit) and all artists of color who continue to work, create, thrive despite our environment – I will hope…always."

Riseborough's Oscar nomination was upheld after the Academy announced its plan to review its rules for social media campaigning. The news came about on Tuesday, January 31, three days after the initial announcement, and the Academy CEO, Bill Kramer, released a statement at the time supporting the decision.

He said, "Based on concerns that surfaced last week around the "To Leslie" awards campaign, the Academy began a review into the film's campaigning tactics. The Academy had determined the activity in question did not rise to the level that the film's nomination should be rescinded."

Kramer noted that the Academy was aware of the movie's social media and outreach campaign, which caused concern and would be addressed accordingly. And according to him, the review made it clear that parts of the Oscars regulations had to be clarified to promote a "better framework for respectful, inclusive, and unbiased campaigning."