As is the case every year, 2016 was full of cringe worthy moments in pop culture. From sports stars to movie stars to Twitter wars, awards shows, politics and some strange high profile deaths, there seemed to be no end to the egos, fights and general bad behavior among public figures in 2016. As is the case most years, the tabloid newspapers and celebrity blogosphere had no shortage of things to report on over the past month. Here’s a compilation of the worst moments in pop culture during 2016.
10. #OscarsTooWhite
The Academy Awards honor the best in movies every year and have been around for 89 years. In that time they’ve proven themselves to be, well, pretty white. In fact, as of 2013, the people who make up the academy that votes on the Oscar winners each year was nearly 75% white and had an average age of 63 years old. “Old white people” pretty much sums up the Academy and they tend to like certain types of films — i.e. costume dramas and period pieces. And they tend to honor mostly white actors, although worthy performances by minority actors have been nominated (and won) over the years – such as Denzel Washington in Glory and Training Day, and Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball.
So it seemed strange when a community of black performers picked 2016 to decide that the Oscars are too white and biased against minorities. As is often the case, the whole situation spiraled out of control quickly with threats of boycotts and clever placards. This left host Chris Rock in a rather awkward position throughout the ceremony. The whole protest seemed overblown and manufactured and faded as soon as the awards ceremony was over, leaving many people to wonder “What was that all about?” Should Will Smith have been nominated for the Concussion? We didn’t think so…
Via Twitter
