The 88th Academy Awards, the Oscars of this year hosted by Chris Rock was an event even more talked about than usual, mostly thanks to the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. However, the appearance of actor and controversial Fox pundit Stacey Dash on the show was met by a lot of confusion and mostly cringes.
Dash had famously called the #OscarsSoWhite boycott by some actors, including actress Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee as "ludicrous" and had declared there to be no need for a Black History Month, CNN had reported earlier.
Rock did a subjectively good job of approaching the controversy that rose from no actors of color being nominated in the Oscars for the second year in a row. Rock used humor, most of which hit its mark, to deal with the issue.
His comments about Hollywood and racism were met with mostly good response as he explained how Hollywood is racist, but not in the usual way. He compared Hollywood's racism to the kind of selective attitude used in sororities.
On a more serious note, Rock did also appeal to the film industry to give black actors the same opportunities as their white counterparts.
The move that was met with mostly muddling cringes, however, was his introduction of Stacey Dash to the stage as the Academy's new director of "minority outreach program."
On Sunday at the Oscars, model Chrissy Teigen (and most of the rest of the world, judging by the tweets that followed) cringed as Dash giggled, saying she could not wait to help her people out.
Tweets and comments that followed claimed that it was probably the most awkward moment in TV history, with people not sure how to react. At best, Dash's performance and her attempt at whatever it was she was trying to achieve landed with a dull thud as people over the world wondered about it.
The confusion was made worse by the fact that Dash has been a polarizing public character since her move from beloved 1990s actor to a conservative, famous for her controversial stances on issues affecting people of color.
