The race-baiting and bullying hurled by Oscar-winner Viola Davis, Till director Chinonye Chukwu, and Till star Danielle Deadwyler at Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough is beyond disgusting and indefensible.
Actress Andrea Riseborough won an Oscar nomination for her lead performance as an alcoholic single mother in the independent film To Leslie. The movie grossed $27,000 at the box office and enjoyed exactly no corporate Oscar backing. Instead, Riseborough won this nomination based solely on a grassroots effort that included Kate Winslet and a gracious Cate Blanchett, who was nominated in the same category for her towering and iconic performance in Tar.
Viola Davis, Chukwu, and Deadwyler did enjoy big-league Oscar campaigns. Unfortunately, those campaigns did not win them Oscar nominations. So what did these despicable women do? They weaponized and singled out Riseborogh’s Best Actress nomination as proof they were victims of racism.
Nevermind that an Asian woman (Michelle Yeoh), a Cuban woman (Ana de Armas), a black woman (Angela Bassett), another Asian woman (Stephanie Hsu), and an Asian man (Key Huy Quan) are all nominated for acting Oscars this year. Never mind that Yeoh, Bassett, and Quan are the frontrunners. These three appalling women still accused the Academy of racism.
Viola Davis was especially grotesque in that her accusation was leveled within hours of becoming a rare EGOT recipient, the holder of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Yes, one of the most celebrated and awarded actresses in history accused the entertainment business of racism.
This would be disgusting and ungracious enough on its own. But the worst part, the most heartbreaking part, is that this reprehensible behavior comes at Riseborough’s expense.
In her crybaby Instagram post, Davis specifically attacked Riseborough’s nomination:
Allyship = Active support for the rights of a marginalized group without being a member of it. THIS is what’s missing. Whether it be a ‘grassroots’ campaign spearheaded by peers or multi-million industry dollars backing one, we rarely are the benefactors. If you see my work you also have to see our plight and either contribute to it or hinder it.
This spoiled and entitled brat even put grassroots in scare quotes.
Because SHE didn’t win a nomination — although other black people and non-whites did — Deadwyler falsely accused the Academy of “living in whiteness.”
Because SHE didn’t win a nomination, Till director Chukwu wrote, “We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women.
This is all coming at the expense of a human being, of one person, Andrea Riseborough, who will forever be remembered as the white lady who stole a nomination Deadwyler and Viola and their million-dollar, corporate-backed Oscar campaigns were entitled to.
Can you imagine what this poor woman is going through? Riseborough’s been acting for more than a decade; she’s 41 years old, she’s largely gone unnoticed, and this Best Actress nomination should be the highlight of her professional life. This nomination is a hard-earned accomplishment she should be reveling in and celebrating. But thanks to that trio of selfish harridans and the far-left media, she can’t. She didn’t even show up for the annual Oscar luncheon, where all the nominees gather to enjoy their moment and a group photo. No, instead of all that, she’s in the middle of an artificial, manufactured, unjust racial scandal.
Riseborough finally broke her silence this week, and she’s not enjoying any of this:
Riseborough was tactful when addressing awards campaigning, stating that she does “not yet know which measures will best encourage meritocracy” and that conversation surrounding industry inequity has “deeply impacted me.” She wrote the outlet via email, “It not only makes sense that this conversation would be sparked, but it is necessary. The film industry is abhorrently unequal in terms of opportunity. I’m mindful not to speak for the experience of other people because they are better placed to speak, and I want to listen.”
The actor, who was notably absent from the 2023 Oscar nominees luncheon, said she values her ability to “move around very anonymously in the world” for the sake of her career. Circumstances surrounding her To Leslie nomination have undeniably complicated things for her moving forward. “So an experience has been taken away,” Riseborough concluded. “A human experience has been taken away.”
Before all this, I had no idea who Andrea Riseborough was, and I’ve not yet seen To Leslie, but I hope she wins. If she does, I know her acceptance speech will come off as a hostage video as she says all the correct things, but I still hope she wins.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
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