Sylvester Stallone Turned to 'Creed' Director Ryan Coogler About Boycotting the Oscars

Sylvester Stallone is not down with #OscarsSoWhite.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

The #OscarsSoWhite boycott has seen Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will Smith, and honorary Oscar Winner director Spike Lee, lead the cause. This year's list of lily-white nominees is particularly awkward considering the Oscar's roast master host is Chris Rock. At a luncheon for the Oscar nominees Sylvester Stallone revealed he was willing to join the boycott and that he asked Creed director Ryan Coogler about it. 

Stallone is nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for reprising his Rocky Balboa role in Creed, directed by Coogler and co-starring Michael B. Jordan, both black men. And so, Stallone felt a responsibility to Coogler and Jordan, who he said deserved more "respect" and asked Coogler about boycotting the ceremony. "I said, 'Ryan, how do you want to handle this? Because I really believe that you are responsible for me being here. Michael Jordan, every time I look in his eyes as an actor, he's making me better. I think he should've been given a lot more respect, a lot more attention," said Stallone. Coogler told him, "'Sly, just go there. Try to represent the film…We feel you deserve it.'"

Again Stallone asked about the boycott, which could mean missing out on accepting the Oscar should he win (which he has been doing a lot of). "I said, 'If you want me to go, I'll go. If you don't, I won't,'" said Stallone. Coogler assured him, "'No, we want you to go.' That's the kind of guy he is. 'We want you to go and respect us and stand up for the film.'"

Stallone would've been the only Oscar nominee so far (though we're not holding our breaths) to join the boycott, though many have expressed their support for the movement.

Latest in Pop Culture