It seems that not all was fun and games at the BAFTA awards this Sunday, as actor Joaquin Pheonix was one of many people in the last couple of years to call out racism in Hollywood.
The last couple of years, heck, people have been doing it for the last couple of weeks!
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Joaquin Phoenix is all that anyone can talk about since his role in “Joker” as the title character.
He delivered an amazing performance, whether you enjoyed the film or not.
Since then, he has been accepting basically every award he has been nominated for.
The first major speech he gave for the role was at the Golden Globes.
He took the time to focus not so much on himself and Joker , but rather the growing issue that is climate change.
The first thing he did was acknowledge the fact that the Globes went vegan for the meal.
“First, I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press, um, for recognizing and acknowledging the link between animal agriculture and climate change.”
“It’s a very bold move making tonight plant-based, and it really sends a powerful message,” he said.
Then, he continued by calling out everything celebs do with their money (like taking private jets) when they should worry about climate change.
“We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs for the awards sometimes, or back.”
He urged people to do more for the world, and for their families, and for Australia, which was up in flames at the time.
Naturally, he’s not the only one who calls for celebs to take more action.
In fact, Jane Fonda has been arrested a few times because she’s been at a number of climate change protests!
But besides climate change, there’s another thing in Hollywood that has been being brought up for years now.
It’s been called out for years now, especially with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
The subject? Racism.
Hollywood’s lack of diversity problem has been addressed over and over again in the past years.
Celebs have included it in their acceptance speeches, they have demanded better in interviews, and have written long social media posts about it.
We’ve seen a lot of people condemn Hollywood racism recently.
Ricky Gervais made a comment about the lack of diversity in his now infamous speech at the Golden Globes, and there have been countless others commenting on the subject for years now.
And this Sunday, one more actor added himself to the conversation.
Joaquin Pheonix was awarded the BAFTA for Leading Actor on February 2nd, but his speech wasn’t about giving thanks.
In fact, a lot of it had to do with the lack of acceptance and diversity in Hollywood.
Twitter exploded with praise for the speech that we are about to detail.
People are rallying behind him (but of course, some people are haters and think he shouldn’t have said anything at all).
“I think that we send a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here.”
“I think that’s the message that we’re sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry and in ways that we benefit from.”
“I don’t think anybody wants a hand-out or preferential treatment, although that’s what we give ourselves every year.”
“I think people want to be appreciated and respected for their work.”
Not only did he admit that sometimes he was a part of the problem, but also that not every set he’s been on has been “inclusive.”
“I think that we really have to do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism.”
“It is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuated and benefit from a system of oppression to dismantle it, so that’s on us.”
He is obviously making sure that his speeches are going to go down in history!
What do you think of Joaquin’s comments? Let us know below in the comments!
