Rev. Al Sharpton loses his cool over white Oscar lineup

Copyright David Shankbone
Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton has called for an emergency meeting in Hollywood to discuss potential action during the Academy Awards.

This week's announcement of an all-white lineup of actor nominations was quickly condemned on social media, and created a storm of debate on whether Hollywood has even tried to address the cultural diversity issue.

For Rev. Al Sharpton, the announcement of this year's lineup has been a huge disappointment, and he's been highly critical of the Academy despite two nominations for 'Selma'.

"The lack of diversity in today's Oscar nominations is appalling and while it is good that Selma was nominated for 'Best Picture,' it's ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shutout around voting while there is a racial shutout around the Oscar nominations."

It has been revealed that 94% of the Academy Award voters are white, while only 2% are African American, 2% are Latino and 0.5% are Asian or of Native American origin.

Sharpton was also critical of the movie industry and its lack of ethnic diversity.

"The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher you get, the whiter it gets..."

Beyond the issue of cultural diversity, the Academy also faces a backlash over the lack of women participating in the voting process, with a reported 76% of voters being male.

Is it time for a change in the voting process?