George Takei, Ang Lee and More Co-Sign an Open Letter to the Academy Over Racist Oscars Joke

"We’d like to know how such tasteless and offensive skits could have happened."

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Chris Rockput white Hollywood on blast last month during the 88th Annual Academy Awards with an opening monologue that coined the phrase “sorority racism” and referred to the ceremony as the “White People’s Choice Awards.” However, not every joke landed and there were a few missteps along the way including an awkward moment when the comedian brought Stacey Dash out on the stage for a Black History Month joke.

Perhaps his biggest mistake came while ironically making an offensive joke of his own while pointing out Hollywood’s racism. In case you forgot, he brought three adorable Asian kids to the stage and described them as the "dedicated, accurate, and hard-working" accountants of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company that helped count the Oscar ballots. He went on to say that anyone offended by that should tweet their complaints on a phone that was probably made by them.

In response, 25 prominent Asian figures including George Takei and Academy Award winning director Ang Lee co-signed an open letter to Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, CEO Dawn Hudson, members of the board of governors and producers David Hill and Reginald Hudlin about the "tasteless and offensive" jokes made during the live broadcast, Mashablereports.

Dear Cheryl, Dawn, Members of the Board of Governors, Reginald and David:

An Academy spokesperson has come out to address the letter, saying: "The Academy appreciates the concerns stated, and regrets that any aspect of the Oscar telecast was offensive. We are committed to doing our best to ensure that material in future shows be more culturally sensitive."

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