• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Arts & Entertainment

Will Hollywood Forget #MeToo As Quickly As #OscarsSoWhite?

By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Valentina Zarya
Valentina Zarya
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 8, 2018, 4:52 PM ET

Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Watching Sunday night’s Golden Globes, you might conclude that Hollywood does not.

The hashtag was created in January 2015 by blogger and activist April Reign. Three years ago, Reign called for a boycott of the Academy Awards due to the fact that people of color were largely shut out of the nominations for major award categories (the sole exceptions: Selma‘s nod in the best picture category and Alexander Iñarritu’s nomination for best director).

The phrase went viral that year—and the year after that, when exclusively white actors were nominated for awards—prompting everyone from Steven Spielberg to Donald Trump to weigh in on the issue. Halle Berry called it “heartbreaking.” Matt Damon called it “shameful and embarrassing.”

This year, however, there was far less mainstream talk on social media about the lack of diversity among the 2018 Golden Globe awardees.

Nine people of color were nominated for the 14 major award categories, and only two won: Aziz Ansari and Sterling K. Brown took home best TV actor awards (for a musical or comedy and drama, respectively). Oprah Winfrey, who received the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award, was the only woman of color honored this year.

The wins were bittersweet for another reason: They were firsts. Winfrey was the first black woman, Ansari was the first Asian American, and Brown was the first African American to win awards in each of their categories. A depressing milestone, as the Golden Globes have been around for 75 years (the DeMille award has been around for 66 years).

Subscribe to The Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

Despite the paucity of people of color among nominees, the conversation about racial diversity in Hollywood was sidelined by the #MeToo movement—and now Time’s Up campaign—against sexual abuse in Hollywood. To show solidarity, many actors wore black and a legal fund associated with Time’s Up raised $15 million.

To be fair, the movement has made a conscious effort to be intersectional. After all, many behind it are women of color, including actresses Eva Longoria and America Ferrera, producer Shonda Rhimes, and lawyers Tina Tchen and Nina Shaw. A number of Golden Globes guests brought activists—many of whom are or work on behalf of minority women—as dates, making sure to share the spotlight.

A handful of non-white actors did mention diversity in their speeches (Ansari, Brown, and Winfrey among them), but the issue seemed to have lost the luster it had in 2016. The vast majority of speakers—including host Seth Meyers—ignored race entirely.

The focus on sexual harassment and sexism in Hollywood is understandable given the wave of accusations against powerful men in the movie industry. Yet the speed with which Lalaland has swept its diversity issues under the rug doesn’t bode well for the future of the #MeToo movement.

After the uproar two years ago, a black woman, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, took over leadership of the Academy and announced that 41% of the new invitees would be people of color. It seemed like the industry was on the brink of a turning point, but it has yet to play out that way: Isaacs stepped down last summer and it’s unclear what will happen to her goals of doubling the diversity within the Oscars committee by 2020.

While one campaign doesn’t necessarily foretell the fate of the other, it is worth keeping mind how big of a role momentum plays. And if there’s any major action item here, it’s this: Keep making noise.

About the Author
By Valentina Zarya
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

David Ellison
Big TechMedia
CNN turns from cheering independence to dreading limbo as Paramount rides into town for Warner-Netflix showdown
By David Bauder and The Associated PressDecember 9, 2025
20 hours ago
Paramount
BankingM&A
Kushner, Ellison and Apollo back hostile Warner Bros. bid
By Aaron Weinman and BloombergDecember 9, 2025
22 hours ago
Trump
Big TechAntitrust
Paramount’s streaming size would ease U.S. antitrust review
By Christopher Palmeri, Kelcee Griffis, Josh Sisco and BloombergDecember 9, 2025
22 hours ago
Photo of David Ellison
SuccessDavid Ellison
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
1 day ago
Kimmel
Arts & EntertainmentMedia
Jimmy Kimmel signs ABC extension through 2027
By David Bauder and The Associated PressDecember 8, 2025
1 day ago
Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO, Netflix, attends the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix's "Stranger Things" Season 5 at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on November 06, 2025 in Hollywood, California.
BankingWarner Bros. Discovery
Netflix CEO brushes aside Paramount’s ‘entirely expected’ hostile bid, ‘superconfident’ of closing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery
By Nick Lichtenberg and Eva RoytburgDecember 8, 2025
2 days ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Fodder for a recession’: Top economist Mark Zandi warns about so many Americans ‘already living on the financial edge’ in a K-shaped economy 
By Eva RoytburgDecember 9, 2025
14 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
Jamie Dimon taps Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Ford CEO Jim Farley to advise JPMorgan's $1.5 trillion national security initiative
By Nino PaoliDecember 9, 2025
16 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
14 days ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Craigslist founder signs the Giving Pledge, and his fortune will go to military families, fighting cyberattacks—and a pigeon rescue
By Sydney LakeDecember 8, 2025
2 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.