PHOTO: FILE
Backlash to the 2020 BAFTA Awards came quickly after nominations were announced on Tuesday, when actors of color were completely left out.
While Jennifer Lopez has been a fixture in the supporting actress race all awards season, she failed to pick up a nomination for Hustlers at the BAFTAs, who instead nominated Australian star Margot Robbie twice in the category, reported People.
PHOTO: FILEOther actors of colour that have been omitted are widespread. British actor Cynthia Erivo for Harriet was noticeably left out, as well as Asian-American star Awkwafina for The Farewell, Kenyan-Mexican actor Lupita Nyong’o for Us, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory, African-American mega-star Eddie Murphy for Dolemite Is My Name, and Jamie Foxx for Just Mercy.
Awkwafina made history Sunday night at the Golden Globes after she became the first Asian actor to pick up a best actress win. The comedic star also landed a Rising Star BAFTA nomination.
PHOTO: FILEThe British Academy Film Awards nominating committee addressed the backlash shortly after the nominations were announced.“We’d have liked to have seen more diversity in the nominations, it does continue to be an industry-wide issue,” BAFTA’s director of awards, Emma Baehr, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“I think more films need to be made, and entered, giving people a chance to see them. We’d absolutely like to see more diversity, but I also don’t want to take away from those celebrating today."
Joker leads the pack for BAFTA 2020 nominations
Lopez, who is of Puerto Rican decent, had been gaining steam for her performance in Hustlers thanks to a few high-profile nominations, including Golden Globe, SAG and Independent Spirit Awards nods.
Instead, the British Academy Film Awards nominated Globe category winner Laura Dern, Little Women‘s Florence Pugh and Jojo Rabbit‘s Scarlett Johansson for the other three spots.
The nominations were quickly slammed on social media, with fans and critics alike taking issue with the lack of diversity and pointing to the academy’s long history of actors of colour failing to be nominated.
PHOTO: FILE“BAFTA has never nominated Denzel Washington. For anything! Ever! So that tells you something that their show continues to make clear year after year,” New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan tweeted.
“An all-white slate of acting nominees, in this of all years. BAFTA, this is not good enough,” critic Guy Lodge echoed.
Another fan wrote, “BAFTA can give double nominations for Margot and Scarlett but nothing for Lupita, Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Cynthia Erivo, parasite cast or Greta Gerwig with an all male director nominees. What a joke."
PHOTO: FILEOverall, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker came away on top with 11 nominations, while Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Irishman tied for second with 10 nods.
The 2020 BAFTA Awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 2.
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