Sir Lenny Henry Says Will Smith Stopped Being Black

British showbiz veteran Sir Lenny Henry said Will Smith stopped being black at some point in his career, while discussing his perceived whitewashing of Britain’s film and TV industry this week. 

During an interview with Sunday People Henry labeled the BBC as “very, very white” and made an interesting comparison while discussing actors who would follow in Will Smith’s footsteps. “If a movie makes more than a hundred dollars, some black people stop being black - they become Will Smith,” he said. The actor said the movies and TV shows of today do not accurately reflect society and took a shot at the already heavily criticized 2016 Oscars. “The Oscars were ridiculous,” he said. “The only brown person nominated was the bear in the Leo DiCaprio film The Revenant.”

Smith, and wife Jada Pinkett boycotted this year’s Oscars, but some felt the gesture was disingenuous since they believe Will Smith doesn’t do much to help resolve the lack of diversity issue in Hollywood. Miami New Times columnist Luther Campbell, also known in the rap world as Uncle Like of “2 Live Crew,” blasted Smith and his wife in a column published in the paper back in January. “All of a sudden, they want to fight for more minority representation at the Oscars because not a single black actor or director was nominated in any of the major film categories this year. Yet the Smiths and their allies like Spike Lee haven’t done anything to make Hollywood more diverse,” wrote Campbell. He went on to say the couple has made millions of dollars “by acquiescing to the lily-white film studios” that produce their blockbuster movies. Campbell also called them out for hanging with Scientologists and other Hollywood cults.

Smith is set to star in the upcoming film “Suicide Squad” where he plays super villain Deadshot. He’s also scheduled to reprise his role as detective Mike Lowry in “Bad Boys 3” and Bad Boys 4” which are set for 2017 and 2019 releases.