Will Smith said Thursday he will join his wife Jada Pinkett Smith in boycotting the Academy Awards this year after it was revealed that the 20 major acting nominees are all white for the second year in a row.
"This is so deeply not about me. This is about the children that are going to sit down and watch this show and they aren't going to see themselves represented,"
Smith told "Good Morning America."
"Everyone is beautiful and deserving and is fantastic, but it feels like it’s going the wrong direction," Smith added, complimenting this year’s nominees.
Smith, who was expected to receive a nomination for "Concussion" this year, is among a growing list of celebrities who've promised to boycott.
Directors Spike Lee and Michael Moore have also announced they'll boycott, while actor George Clooney and Star Wars actress Lupita Nyong'o have spoken out about what they say is a problematic lack of diversity.
"If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a
better job," Clooney told Variety. "Think about how many more African Americans were nominated."
Smith echoed Clooney in his own interview, pointing out that he has been nominated for an Oscar twice before, in 2001 for "Ali" and 2006 for "The Pursuit of Happyness," but lost to fellow black actors Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker.
Elsewhere in the news, singer/actor Tyrese and rapper 50 Cent have called on comedian Chris Rock, the scheduled host, to join the boycott.
Rock has acknowledged the controversy on Twitter, joking that the Oscars are the "White BET Awards," but has remained silent on whether he'll keep the hosting gig.
Other celebs like Arsenio Hall are not so sure about the boycott, and others, like Ricky Gervais, have suggested Rock use the host slot to draw attention to the issue.
"At this point, the Academy is 94 percent Caucasian and 77 percent male," Smith said. "It's just difficult to get a diverse cultural sampling from that group. It's a systematic bias that needs to be addressed across the industry."