The 2016 Academy award, popularly known as the Oscars, has been trailed with controversies since the announcement of the nominations for the 88th edition.
Comments were first made by Hollywood director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith about boycotting the event.
Since this announcement was made, various comments have been made concerning the boycott of the award ceremony by African-American actors.
There have also been calls for Chris Rock, who is scheduled to be the host of the event, to step down in solidarity to black people.
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Donald Trump, Republican presidential aspirant, has expressed similar views in an interview with Fox News.
Trump described the absence of African American actors on the 20-man Oscar Actor of the Year nomination list as a “tough one”.
“This is not one of those years, but over the years I’ve seen numerous black actors and African-American actors receive Academy Awards,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ ‘Fox & Friends’.
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Stacey Dash, an African American actress, had earlier made comments about abolishing the Black History month and the BET awards because it didn’t acknowledge white people.
“If we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black,” she said.
Agreeing with her statement, Trump said: “I saw somebody on your show today say, ‘What do we do with BET, Black Entertainment, right?
“The whites don’t get any nominations. And I thought it was an amazing interview, actually. I’ve never even thought of it from that standpoint.”
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Trump is an American businessman and is the frontrunner of the Republican party for the 2016 US presidential elections.
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