After stating he was “weighing” an Oscar boycott, Mark Ruffalo will now be attending the Academy Awards to support “the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse” highlighted in his movie, “Spotlight.”
“To clear up any confusion. I will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism. #Spotlight,” the Best Supporting Actor nominee tweeted on Thursday morning.
However, he did praise the movement to boycott the Oscars, tweeting that it “reflects a larger discussion about racism in the criminal justice system.”
“I do support the Oscar Ban movement’s position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community,” he added. “I hope the OscarBan people are also willing to step up and support the#BlackLivesMatter movement. Where black bodies are in jeopardy daily.”
However, Twitter users have been extremely critical of the actor’s statements. One user criticized Ruffalo for “telling people of color what they do and don’t need to do to support.”
“I hear you,” he responded. “But maybe I am talking to white people as well.”
In an interview with BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning, Ruffalo said that he is “weighing” an Oscar boycott in light of the current controversy surrounding the lack of diversity in this year’s nominations.
“I’m weighing it, yes,” he said. “That’s where I’m at right now. I woke up in the morning thinking, ‘What is the right way to do this?’ Because if you look at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy, what he was saying is the good people who don’t act are much worse than the wrongdoers who are purposely not acting and don’t know the right way.”
“It isn’t just the Academy Awards,” Ruffalo added. “The entire American system is rife with white privilege racism. It goes into our justice system.”
See his tweets below.
To clear up any confusion. I will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism. #Spotlight
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016
I do support the Oscar Ban movement's position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016
The Oscar Ban movement reflects a larger discussion about racism in the criminal justice system.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016
Correction. I hope the Oscar Ban movement opens the way for my peers to open their hearts to the #BlackLivesMatter movement as well.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016
@ira I hear you. I know that. I apologize. I mean that my peers in general, all my peers in Hollywood could stand to support it.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016
@NaniCoolJ @ira Oh I am. And I apologize. You are the very last person I mean to offend.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016