#Savehollywood not working professional#

In the first three seconds he noted the conspicuous presence within the opening montage of the same black stars who’d been snubbed for nominations, called The Oscars “The White People’s Choice awards” and threw a sideways elbow at last year’s host Neal Patrick Harris. That was our cue that Rock was going to take the elephant in the room head on, grabbing institutional racism by its ivory tusks and wrestling it into a comedic headlock with the sheer, uncontainable joy at the chance to tell Hollywood about itself.

Suffice to say, stakes were high as Rock touched the stage to the adrenaline-inducing opening drum hits of Public Enemy‘s “Fight The Power.”

If his jokes felt forced, awkward or divisive the event would almost surely have imploded, possibly even sounding a death knell for the ultimate Hollywood institution if a star talent boycott along racial lines became a more or less permanent civil war amongst star talent. Hosting an event that will certainly be watched but millions of viewers automatically comes with pressure attached, but that pressure was nothing compared to the expectations in the air surrounding this particular Oscars, with Rock carrying the weight of its success almost entirely on his shoulders.

#Savehollywood not working professional#

Walking away would represent not only a professional breach but also missing the opportunity for the ultimate teachable moment–and in the process leaving Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaac–a black woman ardently struggling to make change a reality within the Jurassic Oscar voting pool–standing on stage more or less by herself.Īs we know, Rock decided to stay the course, a decision that almost certainly encouraged presenters like Common, John Legend and Kerry Washington to walk the red carpet as well, in spite of the glaring disparity of diversity between presenters of the golden statuette and its designated recipients. Many of Rock’s peers were openly calling for a boycott of the ceremony and/or throwing their celebrity weight into promoting the #JusticeForFlint fund-raiser in Michigan as an anti-Oscars, including Creed director Ryan Coogler and Selma director Ava Duvernay, not to mention heavyweight musical talent on the order of Janelle Monáe, Erykah Badu and Stevie Wonder! Honoring his commitment to host meant breaking ranks with a black creative class collectively disgusted with Hollywood’s distorted reflection of America. The star comic found himself committed to take the helm of the iconic ceremony amid an overwhelming atmosphere of anger and disbelief at the stunning lack of diversity on display in the Oscars top categories, summed up in the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. One thing we can all agree on: Chris Rock was in a tough spot hosting Oscars 2016 last night.