Idris Elba Takes Jab at Oscars' Lack of Diversity During SAG Awards Acceptance Speech
Idris Elba made history on the awards front at Saturday night's Screen Actor's Guild Awards for winning two individual Actors in one night. But he also made news by taking a jab at the Oscars' homogenous acting nominations.
"Welcome to diverse TV!" Elba said on stage at the 22nd annual awards.
The audience immediately caught the shade and erupted in laughter.
The Beasts of No Nation star took the shot at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences while standing next to co-star Abraham Attah.
Elba was the first male actor to win two individual SAG awards in one night. He won for Best Supporting Actor in a Film (Beast of No Nation, Netflix) and Best Actor in a TV Miniseries (Luther, BBC America).
#SAGsoBlack was the perfect antidote to #OscarsSoWhite. The SAG awards celebrated diversity with recognition of prominent black actors and actresses the entire evening. Uzo Aduba of Orange Is the New Black -- who brought her high school prom date as her escort to the SAGs -- took home the award for Best Female Actress. Queen Latifah flexed on stage after she received the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her work in HBO's Bessie.
Latifah spoke to Variety backstage and offered some advice for fixing the Academy's diversity problem. "Just continue to make the voting bodies look like the public and then we'll be fine. She continued by saying, "It's okay to get upset-that's cool. But I take that emotion and turn it into action."
See Idris Elba's full speech below. Catch Beasts of No Nation Streaming now on Netflix.