Cynthia Erivo made a decision not to perform at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) after learning about an all-white nominations list.
The 33-year-old actress was recently snubbed for her lead performance of ‘Harriet’ at the Golden Globe and SAG awards. She confirmed to Extra that she will not be performing at BAFTA.
“I felt like [the invitation] didn’t represent people of color in the right light,” she told the outlet. “It felt like it was calling on me as an entertainer as opposed to a person who was a part of the world of film, and I think that it’s important to make it known that it’s not something you throw in as a party trick, you know?” she revealed.
“I work hard, and every single person of color who is working in these films this year has worked really hard, and there are many of them who deserve to be celebrated,” Erivo included. “And no women directors, I was just like, ‘C’mon.’”
Erivo was also snubbed at the BAFTA awards, which made it peculiar for them to ask her to perform. The award show was publicly slammed for completely shutting out actors of color from its major acting categories after their announcement this past Tuesday.
The BAFTA nominating committee responded to the backlash after their announcement of nominations.
“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, stated to 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.”
The BAFTA awards will take place on Feb. 2 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
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