Ever wondered why the Oscars seem to have such a complicated relationship with Black talent? The Academy Awards might be Hollywood’s most prestigious night, but its golden history is tarnished with allegations of bias and discrimination.
From the viral #OscarsSoWhite hashtag that exploded on social media to the awkward ceremony moments that had us all cringing on our couches, the film industry’s biggest celebration has repeatedly found itself in hot water.
The pattern is hard to ignore – groundbreaking Black performances mysteriously overlooked, Black directors shut out of nominations, and the weird tendency to reward certain types of Black stories while ignoring others. Let’s dive into the countdown of ten times when many believe the Academy showed its true colors – and they weren’t gold.
10. Chadwick Boseman’s posthumous Oscar loss (2021)
Talk about an uncomfortable TV moment! The 2021 Oscars literally rearranged their entire show for what everyone assumed would be Chadwick Boseman‘s posthumous Best Actor win for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Producers even moved the Best Actor category to the end of the night – a spot usually reserved for Best Picture – seemingly to create an emotional finale honoring the late actor.
Then came the plot twist nobody saw coming: Anthony Hopkins won for The Father (and wasn’t even there to accept it). The ceremony ended so abruptly that viewers practically got whiplash.
CHADWICK BOSEMAN GOT SNUBBED
POSTHUMOUSLY?! 😡😱🤯😳😬
I feel like… the entire goodwill of the evening just went down the tubes.
He will now never win an Oscar, that’s horrible…#Oscars pic.twitter.com/EFKmEI2FQh
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) April 26, 2021
Boseman’s powerhouse final performance as an ambitious, tormented trumpet player had already snagged him Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards, making the Oscar snub feel particularly jarring. Whether fair or not, many fans couldn’t help but see it as the Academy once again dropping the ball when it came to recognizing Black excellence.
9. Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” Best Director snub (2018)
Let’s be real – Get Out wasn’t just good; it was a cultural phenomenon that changed the horror genre forever. Jordan Peele crafted a masterpiece that had us all saying “I would’ve voted for Obama a third time” with knowing side-eyes at each other.
The film brilliantly unpacked racism through the lens of horror, grossed over $250 million on a tiny budget, and earned near-universal critical acclaim.
The Academy did throw Peele a bone with the Best Original Screenplay award (making him the first Black writer to win that category – in 2018!), but many felt his directorial achievement deserved the same recognition.
Creating that “Sunken Place” alone was a directorial flex few could pull off. The Academy seemed comfortable acknowledging Peele’s writing prowess but hesitated to crown him as a visionary Black director.
It’s worth noting that only six Black directors have ever been nominated in the Best Director category, and none have won to this day. Feels a bit like the Academy saying, “We’ll recognize your words, but not your complete artistic vision,” doesn’t it?
8. “Sing Sing” Oscar snub (2025)
Okay, so get this – Sing Sing was totally robbed at the Oscars! This powerful prison drama was an early frontrunner that mysteriously lost momentum during Academy voting season. Unlike typical prison break stories, Sing Sing explores inmates’ journey to break into themselves, using the infamous correctional facility as both literal setting and powerful metaphor for systemic failures in rehabilitation.
The film stars Colman Domingo as Divine G, based on a real ex-con, alongside actual members of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program. The standout performance comes from Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who not only acts but co-wrote and executive produced the film.
Shot on warm 16mm film with a moving soundtrack and stunning production design contrasting prison sterility with theater warmth, it’s an emotionally raw experience that had viewers in tears.
Clarence Maclin’s Performance in Sing Sing is Beyond Words
How Was He Not Nominated For An #Oscar? pic.twitter.com/1TYY8dhIpZ
— Cinema Tweets (@CinemaTweets1) February 4, 2025
Despite this, Sing Sing not only missed out on a Best Picture nomination but saw Maclin snubbed for Best Supporting Actor following a similar Golden Globes exclusion.
Though recognized with a Best Adapted Screenplay nod, the film went home empty-handed from the 2025 Oscars, with all three nominations failing to convert – continuing that frustrating pattern where Black-led projects generate early buzz only to be overlooked when trophies are handed out. Seriously, what were they thinking?
7. Michael B. Jordan and “Creed” (2016)
This one’s a head-scratcher that had film buffs everywhere rolling their eyes. Creed breathed fresh life into the Rocky franchise, with Michael B. Jordan delivering a knockout performance as Adonis Creed and Ryan Coogler‘s dynamic direction making boxing feel exciting again.
So who gets the only Oscar nomination? Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor. Don’t get us wrong – Sly was great as the aging Rocky Balboa – but the fact that the film’s Black star and Black director received zero recognition while the white supporting actor got the nod felt… well, let’s just say it raised some eyebrows.
It’s especially ironic considering Jordan carried the film with a performance that demanded tremendous physical dedication and emotional depth, while Coogler’s innovative direction reinvented a forty-year-old franchise.
The optics weren’t great: a film created, led, and directed by Black talent only getting recognition for its white character felt like the Academy saying, “We love what you’ve done with Rocky’s story” while ignoring whose story it actually was. This snub became a perfect example for the #OscarsSoWhite movement that dominated conversation that awards season.
6. Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” directing snub (2015)
The exclusion that launched a thousand tweets! When Selma received a Best Picture nomination but Ava DuVernay was left out of the Best Director race, it became the tipping point that helped spark the #OscarsSoWhite movement. Her powerful direction brought the 1965 voting rights marches to life with urgency and intimate humanity that made history feel immediate and relevant.
Had she been nominated, DuVernay would have made history as the first Black woman ever nominated for Best Director (a milestone that wouldn’t happen until 2021 with Emerald Fennell and Chloé Zhao).
The film itself received widespread critical acclaim for its direction, yet somehow, the Academy determined all five directing slots belonged to men, all but one of whom were white.
‘Selma’ Snags Two Oscar Nominations, But Still Snubbed – http://t.co/iJVa9q2gfA pic.twitter.com/iIxwWrpdpn
— xoNecole (@xonecole) January 15, 2015
The snub felt particularly egregious because directing a historical drama with the scope and emotional resonance of Selma is exactly the kind of achievement the Academy typically celebrates – when the director looks a certain way.
The resulting backlash forced a long-overdue conversation about representation that the Academy couldn’t ignore, but it came at the cost of denying DuVernay her well-earned recognition.
5. Eddie Murphy’s “Dreamgirls” upset (2007)
Picture this: Eddie Murphy transforms from comedy king to dramatic powerhouse in Dreamgirls, playing a James Brown-esque singer with depths nobody knew Murphy could reach. He sweeps every major award leading up to the Oscars – Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, Critics’ Choice – the full EGOT warm-up.
Oscar night arrives, the envelope opens, and… Alan Arkin wins for Little Miss Sunshine. The collective gasp was practically audible across America’s living rooms! Murphy’s loss ranks among the biggest upsets in Oscar history and left many wondering what happened.
Nobody:
Me: 🗣🗣🗣EDDIE MURPHY DESERVED AN OSCAR FOR HIS PORTRAYAL OF JIMMY EARLY IN DREAMGIRLS!!!
— Kevín (@KevOnStage) May 15, 2022
Some blame the unfortunately-timed release of Murphy’s critically panned comedy Norbit during Oscar voting (yikes, talk about bad timing). But others point to a more troubling pattern where the Academy seems to have unwritten rules about which types of Black performances deserve recognition.
Murphy’s portrayal of a complex, flawed R&B singer apparently didn’t make the cut, despite his trophy-filled awards season. The upset was so unexpected that Murphy reportedly left the ceremony immediately after losing. Whether it was Norbit or something more systemic, this remains one of those Oscar decisions that still has film fans shaking their heads years later.
4. Denzel Washington losing for “Malcolm X” (1993)
If you haven’t seen Denzel Washington in Malcolm X, stop reading this article and go watch it immediately (we’ll wait). His transformation into the civil rights leader is widely considered one of the greatest acting performances ever committed to film.
Washington didn’t just play Malcolm X – he became him, capturing every nuance of his evolution from street hustler to controversial political figure to enlightened leader.
Director Spike Lee crafted a sweeping biographical epic worthy of its subject, with Washington’s performance as its magnificent centerpiece. Yet on Oscar night, the award went to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman, widely viewed as more of a “career achievement” award than recognition for that specific (and very “HOO-AH!”-heavy) performance.
The snub feels especially pointed given the political nature of the subject matter – a powerful, unapologetic Black leader whose message challenged white America. Many critics and film historians have noted a pattern where the Academy seems hesitant to reward Black actors portraying strong, controversial Black historical figures who directly confronted racial injustice.
Washington would eventually win his first Best Actor Oscar nearly a decade later for playing a corrupt cop in Training Day, a role that some argue played into more problematic stereotypes.
3. The “Driving Miss Daisy” vs. “Do The Right Thing” controversy (1990)
This might be the Oscar decision that aged like milk left out in the summer sun. In 1990, Spike Lee’s electrifying Do The Right Thing – a film that boldly confronted racial tensions in America with style, humor, and unflinching honesty – wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture. Instead, Driving Miss Daisy – a feel-good story about a wealthy white woman and her Black chauffeur forming an unlikely friendship – took home the top prize.
The contrast couldn’t be more stark: Lee’s film challenged audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about racism, while Driving Miss Daisy offered a more palatable narrative that many critics felt reinforced rather than challenged stereotypes.
The decision seems even more puzzling in retrospect, as Do The Right Thing is now hailed as one of the greatest American films ever made and regularly appears on critics’ all-time best lists. Spike Lee didn’t mince words about the snub, famously saying,
That film is not being taught in film schools all across the world like “Do the Right Thing” is. Nobody’s discussing Driving Miss Motherf***in’ Daisy.
The Academy’s preference for a more comfortable depiction of race relations over Lee’s revolutionary vision speaks volumes about what kinds of Black stories Hollywood has historically been willing to celebrate.
2. “The Color Purple” shutout (1986)
Talk about a statistical anomaly that makes you go “hmm.” Steven Spielberg‘s adaptation of Alice Walker‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple received a whopping 11 Oscar nominations – and won exactly zero. That ties it for the most nominations without a single win in Academy history.
The film featured powerhouse performances from Whoopi Goldberg (in her film debut), Oprah Winfrey, and Margaret Avery, all of whom were nominated but went home empty-handed. This complete shutout of a film centered on the experiences of Black women in the early 20th century South raised eyebrows then and continues to perplex film historians now.
The movie resonated deeply with audiences, especially Black women who rarely saw their stories told with such emotional depth on screen. It’s particularly strange considering the Academy loves rewarding epic period dramas that tackle difficult subject matter – unless, apparently, that subject matter focuses primarily on Black female experiences.
Some critics have suggested that the film’s unflinching portrayal of the abuse and discrimination faced by Black women in America was simply too uncomfortable for Oscar voters. Whatever the reason, this wholesale rejection of a critically acclaimed, commercially successful film featuring predominantly Black talent stands as one of the Academy’s most glaring oversights.
1. Hattie McDaniel’s segregated Oscar experience (1940)
The first should have been a pure celebration, but instead, it perfectly encapsulates the Academy’s complicated history with Black talent. When Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind, she became the first Black person ever to win an Oscar – a groundbreaking achievement. But the ceremony itself told a different story.
The Ambassador Hotel, which housed the ceremony, had a strict “no Blacks” policy and only made an exception for McDaniel because she was a nominee. Even then, she wasn’t allowed to sit with her white castmates at the Gone with the Wind table. Instead, she was relegated to a small segregated table at the back of the room.
Just let that sink in: the Academy was literally honoring her performance while simultaneously enforcing Jim Crow segregation! McDaniel had to walk through the kitchen to accept her award and was then escorted back to her isolated table.
Her acceptance speech, which she wasn’t expected to win and had been given just moments before to prepare, and was entirely crafted by the studio. McDaniel understood the painful paradox of the relationship between Hollywood and Black artists, she even reportedly said,
I’d rather play a maid and make $700 a week than be a maid and make $7.
This bittersweet Oscar moment captures Hollywood’s historical approach to Black talent – willing to profit from and occasionally recognize Black excellence, while simultaneously upholding the very systems of discrimination that made such recognition exceptional rather than normal.
The Academy’s response
Credit where it’s due – the Academy has been trying to clean up its act in recent years. After the #OscarsSoWhite controversy reached a boiling point in 2015 and 2016 (when all 20 acting nominees were white for two consecutive years – yikes!), the organization promised to double its number of women and people of color members by 2020.
They’ve made some progress, inviting more diverse groups of filmmakers and actors to join their ranks each year. We’ve seen historic wins like Barry Jenkins‘ Moonlight for Best Picture, Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk, and Mahershala Ali becoming the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.
The 2019 ceremony was particularly diverse, with multiple wins for Black Panther and Alfonso Cuarón‘s Roma. And last year, Kris Bowers along with Ben Proudfoot won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) Academy Award for their heartwarming tale The Last Repair Shop.
But let’s be real – is it enough? Critics argue these changes are more like applying a bandage to a broken bone than actually fixing the systemic issues. Each awards season still brings intense scrutiny about which films and performances get recognized and which don’t.
The conversation about representation at the Oscars isn’t going away anytime soon, and perhaps that’s a good thing. Accountability keeps the pressure on for meaningful change rather than just symbolic gestures.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
