Mark Ruffalo will attend Oscars, praises boycott

Maeve McDermott | USATODAY

After "weighing" the decision to boycott this year's Academy Awards, Mark Ruffalo will be attending the ceremony after all.

Ruffalo, who's nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spotlight, took to Twitter to explain why he's attending the Oscars, writing that he feels a responsibility to the victims of the crimes investigated in Spotlight.

To clear up any confusion. I will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy Sexual Abuse and good journalism. #Spotlight
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016

He praised the movement to boycott the awards, which Hollywood stars like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith signed onto after the Academy announced all-white slates of nominees in the acting categories, while also encouraging his Hollywood peers to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

I do support the Oscar Ban movement's position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016

The Oscar Ban movement reflects a larger discussion about racism in the criminal justice system.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016

I hope the OscarBan people are also willing to step up and support the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Where black bodies are in jeopardy daily.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016

"I hear you. But maybe I am talking to white people as well," he tweeted after another Twitter user criticized Ruffalo for "[telling] people of color what they do and don't need to support."

@fatuma_ali I hear you. But maybe I am talking to white people as well.
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 21, 2016

In an earlier interview, Ruffalo told the BBC he was mulling a boycott of the awards show. "Because if you look at Martin Luther King's legacy, what he was saying was the good people who don't act are much worse than the wrongdoers who are purposefully not acting, and don't know the right way," Ruffalo told BBC host Charlie Stayt.

Ruffalo's latest tweets echo comments he made in an interview Wednesday, where he spoke about being "in a quandary" about whether to attend, claiming he feels a responsibility to the victims of the crimes investigated in Spotlight.

"[Spotlight] represents another kind of victimized people," he told the UK's Channel 4 News. "And I'm sort of carrying, not just for investigative journalism, but we're carrying the torch for those people as well."

Once again, Ruffalo asked those boycotting the Oscars to "step out with the Black Lives Matter movement, to go beyond their little world and step into where real lives are being threatened."

More Oscars diversity news:Earlier Thursday morning, Will Smith announced that he won't be attending this year's awards, joining his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and other stars like Spike Lee in supporting a boycott of the awards.

Facebook Twitter Email