Venerable actress and co-host of “The View” Whoopi Goldberg recently dedicated a segment of her show to voice her anger and disappointment over a New York Times article about black Oscar winners that she felt snubbed her triumphant 1991 Oscar win.
“I’m embarrassed to tell you it hurt me terribly. When you win an Academy Award, that’s part of what you’ve done, your legacy. I will always be Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg,” said Goldberg before whipping out her Oscar trophy on-screen.
The actress then added, “This is not hidden information. And … these two critics, the head critics of the New York Times [did not acknowledge me]. It’s hard to not take it personally.”
The article Goldberg was referring to is a piece titled “Hollywood Whiteout,” written by Manohla Dargis and A. O. Scott that name-dropped several black Oscar winners dating all the way back to 1940, but failed to list Goldberg.
However, while Goldberg as well as actors like Louis Gossett Jr. and Cuba Gooding Jr. weren’t actually mentioned, their wins were, in fact, acknowledged in the article.
The article, which focuses mainly on race and the Academy Awards since 2002 and the lack of black nominees at this year’s ceremony, makes mention of black Oscar winners before that year when Halle Berry and Denzel Washington scored their historic wins.
“Real change seemed to have come to movies or at least the Academy, which had given statuettes to a total of seven black actors in the previous 73 years,” wrote Dargis and Scott.
The article went on to list the slew of wins for black actors that came in the following years, including wins for Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson and Mo’Nique.
So is art — or rather article — imitating life, once again? Is Goldberg justified in her criticism of the article or is this another case of a sensitive actor with a bruised ego? –nicholas robinson
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