George Clooney Weighs In on Oscars Diversity Controversy

George Clooney is speaking out in a lengthy statement about the lack of diversity at the 2016 Oscars after only white actors were nominated.

“If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African Americans were nominated. I would also make the argument, I don’t think it’s a problem of who you’re picking as much as it is: How many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in quality films?” the 54-year-old actor told Variety.

“I think that African Americans have a real fair point that the industry isn’t representing them well enough. I think that’s absolutely true,” George said.

“Let’s look back at some of the nominees. I think around 2004, certainly there were black nominees – like Don Cheadle, Morgan Freeman. And all of a sudden, you feel like we’re moving in the wrong direction. There were nominations left off the table,” he added before listing off possible nominations for this year including Straight Outta Compton, Creed, Will Smith, and Idris Elba.

“But honestly, there should be more opportunity than that. There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars. By the way, we’re talking about African Americans. For Hispanics, it’s even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it,” George concluded.

Read the full piece now on Variety.com!