Oscars Releases Annual Nominees Pic... And It's Amazingly White

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences releases a picture of its nominees from its nominee lunch every year.

But considering the race row surrounding this year’s event, it paints a further damning picture of the profile it presents of the movie business.

Following the nominations last month, it became apparent that not a single minority actor was up for any of the acting gongs, and for the second year running.

And now this new picture of the Oscar nominees for 2016 shows that it’s not just the acting categories that are suffering from a lack of diversity.

The president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, admitted during the lunch that there was ‘an elephant in the room’.

“I have asked the elephant to leave,” she added, likely referring to plans announced that aim to change the racial profile of the Academy.

However, the picture will delight advocates of the ’#OscarsSoWhite’ campaign, which has slammed the Academy for its lack of diversity.

At the lunch, Sylvester Stallone spoke about asking his 'Creed’ director Ryan Coogler whether he should boycott the awards event, as others have pledged they will.

“You are responsible for me being here,” Stallone said of 'Fruitvale Station’ helmsman Coogler of his invitation.

“If you want me to go, I’ll go. If you don’t, I won’t. He said, ‘I want you to go.’ That’s the kind of guy he is. He wanted me to stand up for the film.”

Several notable names are boycotting this year’s event, including Jada Pinkett, Will Smith and Spike Lee.

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Image credit: Newspix International/PA