'Boyz n the Hood' Director Speaks on #OscarsSoWhite Controversy: "I'm Not Really Worried About It"

"It’s all subjective," John Singleton said. "It’s almost like the lottery."

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Since the announcement of this year's (very white) Academy Awards nominees, the justified fallout surrounding the industry's continued lack of diversity has only grown. Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and others have called for a full-on boycott of February's festivities. John Singleton, who in 1991 became the first black person to ever get a Best Director nomination from the Academy, isn't quite as concerned. "The demographics of America and this business are changing," the Boyz n the Hood director tells Variety. "The Academy’s going to evolve. So I’m not really worried about it."

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"It’s like every year people complain," Singleton elaborates. "People even complain even when we have a lot of nominations. It is what it is. I’ve been in the game for 25 years. You never know — it’s the luck of the draw for you." In fact, Singleton puts very little stock in the practice of awards shows in general: "Every year there’s at least a few films that don’t get nominated and you have all these films that do get nominated and then the films that aren’t nominated are elevated over time."

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Singleton does agree, however, that one particular film was criminally overlooked by the Academy this year. "I do think Straight Outta Compton could have been nominated for Best Picture," Singleton said, echoing the voice of almost everyone in the nation. Singleton's next project, according to Variety, is an episode of FX's forthcomingAmerican Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson.

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