Michelle Rodriguez has put her foot in her mouth. In a recent interview with Vulture.com while the actress was raving about Nicole Kidman's Oscar-worthy performance in The Paperboy, the actress lamented that it was unlikely that Kidman would receive recognition from the Academy because she's not "trashy and black."
"I loved The Paperboy! I fucking loved it. One of my friends said, 'She's going to get nominated for an Oscar for that.' I was like, 'Nah, man. She's not black!' I laugh, but it's also very sad. It makes me want to cry. But I really believe you have to be trashy and black to get nominated. You can't just be trashy."
Just to refresh Michelle's memory, or to just plainly school her on black nominees an winners of the Academy Awards past, let's run down the "trashy and black" actors that have received recognition and awards in the past, shall we?
Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Role for Gone With the Wind in 1939
Ethel Waters was nominated for Pinky in 1949
Juanita Moore for Imitation of Life
Dorothy Dandridge nominated for Carmen Jones
Beah Richards nominated for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Diana Ross nominated for Lady Sings The Blues
Cicely Tyson Best Actress Nomination for Sounder
Diahann Carroll nominated for Best Actress for Claudine
James Earl Jones nominated for The Big White Hope
Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day
Will Smith nominated for Ali
Oprah Winfrey was nominated in the best supporting actress category for her performance in The Color Purple
Margaret Avery was nominated as best supporting actress for The Color Purple
Alfre Woodard was nominated as best supporting actress in Cross Creek
Forest Whitaker was nominated for The Last King of Scotland
Angela Bassett was nominated in 1993 for What's Love Got to Do With It
Halle Berry won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her 2001 role in Monster's Ball
Queen Latifah received the best supporting actress Oscar nomination for Chicago
Don Cheadle was nominated for Hotel Rwanda
Jennifer Hudson won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in Dreamgirls in 2006.
Taraji P. Henson was nominated for best supporting actress in 2009 for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mo'nique is nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Precious
Gabourey Sidibe has been nominated for her role in Precious
Viola Davis was nominated for The Help
…and this list isn't even half of the nominees and winners from the Oscars. If Michelle thinks it's a prerequiste for a role to be "trashy and black" for a black actor to get recognition, she needs to revisit the full list and then come back and say that all of the non-black roles don't have a scumbags or two.
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