It was supposed to be the most unpredictable Oscar ceremony in recent history. In this case, the juiciest mystery hanging over the film industry's biggest night was how celebrities would react to the Academy's failure to nominate a single actor of color for the second year in a row.
Attempts to raise a stink before Sunday's proceedings in Hollywood failed to gain much traction. An Al Sharpton-led protest just a few blocks away only drew about 100 people. Nominees Sylvester Stallone and Mark Ruffalo publicly contemplated skipping the event, but both showed up.
A boycott instigated by Jada Pinkett Smith was largely ignored, with Whoopi Goldberg, Common and Kevin Hart among the list of black performers handing out awards. In fact, 25 percent of the presenters were African-American — more than double the average number since 1969, according to the Washington Post. The honor of giving best picture to "Spotlight" was given to Morgan Freeman.
"I respect a lot of people who aren't here, but for me, my voice and my heart is best used at the table," presenter Kerry Washington told ABC on the red carpet. "I really want to be part of the conversation."
The most star-studded protest was nowhere near Hollywood, with "Creed" director Ryan Coogler and comedian Hannibal Buress joining residents in Flint, Mich., to draw attention to the city's tainted water supply.
However muted, the campaign still put extra pressure on the broadcast to address the issue. That it did — and then some. Chris Rock, making his second appearance as host, got the ball rolling with a 10-minute monologue dedicated almost solely to the lack of diversity at the Oscars.
"If they nominated the host, I wouldn't even get this job," he said. "You'd all be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now."
In his most charged line, Rock joked that the show's traditional "In Memoriam" tribute would consist solely of black people who had been shot on their way to the movies. Later, Rock showed himself interviewing moviegoers at a theater in L.A.'s Compton neighborhood, where black patrons had never heard of such nominated films as "Brooklyn" and "Trumbo."
