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Nick Cannon Wrote a Poem About the Oscars

Plus, an Academy member says, "We are a bunch of racists."

Nick Cannon is weighing in on #OscarsSoWhite in a very unique way — through spoken word. The actor penned a poem about the outrage over the lack of diversity in this year's nominations, calling out the boycotters for putting too much importance on an awards show when there are real problems in the world.

In the black-and-white clip, Cannon starts by explaining that the piece was "not another trophy rant." 
"Look what they did to Oscar," he says. "I'm talking Oscar Grant, Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray. Why we trust what the news say anyway? It's blasphemous, don't get distracted by these lottery tickets and statues." 

He continues, calling that coveted statuette "just fake gold and plastic" and commenting on the Academy's lack of diversity with, "We crying for votes but how many of us is on the board." The answer to Nick's question, BTW, is just one — Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs is the only person of color on the 51-person board.
"Hollywood mainstream don't validate me, yo," Cannon concludes. "… You in this show for the business or this business for the show?" 
Watch the impressive piece in full below:

Meanwhile, more Hollywood insiders are weighing in on the controversy. Danny DeVito, veteran actor and a member of the Academy, put his community on blast by calling the whole system racist.
“It’s unfortunate that the entire country is racist,” the actor told the Associated Press at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. “This is one example of the fact that even though some people have given great performances in movies, they weren’t even thought about.”
He continued, “We are living in a country that discriminates and has certain racist tendencies, so sometimes it manifests itself something like this, and it’s illuminated. But just generally speaking, we’re racists. We are a bunch of racists.”
Steve McQueen, who was the first Black filmmaker to win Best Director (for 12 Years a Slave) added his two cents: "I’m hoping in 12 months or so we can look back and say this was a watershed moment, and thank God we put that right,” he said.

These guys are joining a growing number of Hollywood insiders to speak out about #OscarsSoWhite. Catch up with what others have to say with BET Breaks below:

(Photos from top, clockwise: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for March Of Dimes, Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images, Jamie McCarthy/NBC/Getty Images for "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon")

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