‘Till’ actress calls out Oscars for ‘misogynoir’ after best actress snub

Actress Danielle Deadwyler said racism and “misogynoir” played a role in her Oscars snub after the 40-year-old was passed over for the best actress Academy Award nomination. 

Deadwyler performed as Mamie Till-Mobley in “Till,” a 2022 drama that depicts a mother’s pursuit of justice after the lynching of her son, 14-year-old Emmett Till, in Mississippi. 

“We’re talking about people who perhaps chose not to see the film, we’re talking about misogynoir- like it comes in all kinds of ways, whether it’s direct or indirect,” she said on an episode of the podcast “Kermode & Mayo’s Take.” “It impacts who we are.”

Misogynoir, a term coined by Black feminist author and activist Moya Bailey in 2008, refers to misogyny and prejudice directed at Black women. 

Her comments came after “Till” director Chinonye Chukwu accused the Oscars, as well as the entertainment industry, of being “aggressively committed to upholding whiteness,” after she wasn’t nominated for best director. 

“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating unabashed misogyny towards Black women. And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance,” Chukwu wrote on her Instagram account in late January. 

No women were nominated for the best director Oscar for the 95th Academy Awards and of the 20 nominations for best actor/actress in a leading and supporting role, only two are Black. 

The Oscars have long-faced accusations of lacking diversity regarding nominations. In 2016, the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag began to trend, leading the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to announce new incentives and initiatives to promote diversity in their nominations. 

In 2020, the Academy announced a new series of inclusion requirements to “encourage equitable representation on and off screen.”

And in 2024, film producers and directors will be required to submit to the Academy a dossier of the sort that points to the race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status of their film’s cast and crew members. 

The 95th Academy Awards will be hosted by late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel and air Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. on ABC.