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Oscar host Chris Rock during the 77th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Ca

Source: Brian Vander Brug / Getty

Arsenio Hall is joining the #OscarsSoWhite conversation.

Emotions and outrage have been running high since last week’s Academy Award nominees announcement which reflect a blaring lack of regard for deserving actors and actresses of color yet again despite a year of excellence in film.

The conversation came to a head this week when actress Jada Pinkett announced plans to boycott this year’s Oscar Awards ceremony, supposedly in light of husband Will Smith not receiving a nod for his performance in “Concussion.” Jada’s boycott announcement sparked much discussion both in and outside of Hollywood and eventually resulted in a statement from the Academy president, promising that a fix to the long-running problem of a lack of diversity in the nominees will soon come.

With the Academy Awards air date of February 28 fast approaching and many fans planning to join in on the boycott, the question of whether or not Chris Rock will still host the event has become a major topic of discussion this week, so much so that Arsenio Hall even decided to weigh in with his thoughts on it all on Tuesday night.

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Arsenio’s sentiment that Chris Rock should not participate in the boycott and take a stand in another way by actually keeping the gig to serve as the voice of the African-American community during the Oscars is one that seems to be shared by the majority of African-American fans and viewers.

Chris Rock has yet to publicly speak on any plans to participate in the boycott, so as of now, the show will indeed go on. Stay tuned…

Arsenio Hall Hopes Chris Rock Doesn’t Boycott Oscars Gig -“It’s So Important To Have Him On The Mic”  was originally published on theurbandaily.com