#OscarsSoWhite floods Twitter once again; Academy also called out for male-dominated ballot

LOS ANGELES - The Academy Awards came under fire once again for lack of diversity after its 2020 nominees were announced Monday.

#OscarsSoWhite trended on Twitter as social media users called out how actors of color were snubbed across various categories. Twitter users also noted how no women filmmakers earned nominations for best director.

Issa Rae, who announced the nominees alongside John Cho, shared her frustration as she named the five men in the directing category: Martin Scorsese for “The Irishman,” Todd Phillips for “Joker,” Sam Mendes for “1917,” Quentin Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” and Bong Joon Ho for ”Parasite.“

“Congratulations to those men,” she said, with a long pause.

Twitter users, including Time’s Up, posted clips and images of Rae’s face, calling it a mood and that her dig was spot on.

“This delivery from issa rae is the energy i’m carrying with me for the rest of 2020,” user Ellie wrote.

This is the 87th time out of the Oscars’ 92-year history that the academy selected all-male nominees.

While Ho’s “Parasite” did make history for being the first South Korean movie to get major nominations, none of its cast received recognition with nominations for acting awards.

And although this year did mark a record number of women receiving nominations at 62, they only made up one-third of the overall nominees.

Rebecca Goldman, chief operating officer for Time’s Up, said this is why the organization is important.

“This is why Time’s Up exists – to ensure women in entertainment and across industries get the opportunities and recognition they deserve,” she said.

In 2019, women directed 12 of the year’s top 100-grossing movies, according to a study released by USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. While those movies only make up a little more than 10 percent, it’s the biggest gain in several decades for female directors.

Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women,” which was among those top-grossing movies, received a best picture nomination among a slew of other nods, despite Gerwig herself not receiving a best director nomination.

Some of the other snubbed movies include Melina Matsoukas’ “Queen and Slim,” Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” and Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers.”

Twitter users also pointed out that women of color in several of those movies were snubbed lead and supporting actress nominations, such as Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers,” Awkwafina in “The Farewell” and Lupita Nyong’o in “Us.”

Awkwafina won a Golden Globe for her role, while Lopez received a nomination.

But one woman of color did get some recognition – Cynthia Erivo, who garnered both best actress and best original song nominations for “Harriet.”

Still, Erivo is the only black person to receive recognition in the acting categories. Eddie Murphy, who reaped praise for his role in “Dolemite Is My Name,” was not included in the lead actor category.

“Essence” magazine acknowledged that another silver lining to the #OscarsSoWhite mess was the nomination of Matthew A. Cherry’s “Hair Love,” an animated short that adapted a popular children’s book on embracing natural hair.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.