#OscarSoOffensive: Letter protesting Oscar's Asian jokes sparks Academy apology

From left, George Takei, Sandra Oh and Ang Lee. They were among the Academy members who protested the Asian jokes during the Oscar telecast.

REPERCUSSIONS from making Asians the butt of jokes at the Academy Awards continues to reverberate through the AAPI community and in particularly for those Asians in the movie industry.

Twenty-five Asians who are members of the Academy issued a joint letter protesting the what they believe was the telecast's "offensive skits" targeting of Asians.  

The signers, including some of the biggest names in the industry such as director Ang Lee, actors George Takei, Sandra Oh and Nancy Kwan - expressed their disappointment in the Academy in light of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy

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The letter stated: "We’d like to know how such tasteless and offensive skits could have happened and what process you have in place to preclude such unconscious or outright bias and racism toward any group in future Oscars telecasts." 

The so-called  "jokes" involved Asian children who were oblivious to the fact that they would be the butt of the joke; and a joke from Sacha Baron Cohen about Asian penises.

"Everybody was excited because we knew that the academy was responding to #OscarsSoWhite," one of the signees, ReneeTajima-Peña told the Los Angeles Times.  "We were excited to see the telecast to see what was gonna happen. It kind of blindsided us. It was such a contrast to the language of moving forward, recognizing that this culture is multi-racial, multi-ethnic. It wasn’t even funny. It’s just dredging up really idiotic stereotypes." 

RELATED: AAPI still buzzing about  Oscar's Asian jokes

"The Academy appreciates the concerns stated, and regrets that any aspect of the Oscar telecast was offensive.," responded a spokesman for the Academy. "We are committed to doing our best to ensure that material in future shows be more culturally sensitive."

Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO also responded with a personal email, in which she said, "It was never our intent to offend anyone....It pains us that any aspect of the show was considered offensive, and I apologized for any hurt the skits caused.."

The letter dated March 9 from the 25 signees is below:

Dear Cheryl, Dawn, Members of the Board of Governors, Reginald and David:

We are writing as Academy members of Asian descent to express our complete surprise and disappointment with the targeting of Asians at the 88th Oscars telecast and its perpetuation of racist stereotypes.

In light of criticism over #OscarsSoWhite, we were hopeful that the telecast would provide the Academy a way forward and the chance to present a spectacular example of inclusion and diversity. Instead, the Oscars show was marred by a tone-deaf approach to its portrayal of Asians.

We’d like to know how such tasteless and offensive skits could have happened and what process you have in place to preclude such unconscious or outright bias and racism toward any group in future Oscars telecasts.

We look forward to hearing from you about this matter and about the concrete steps to ensure that all people are portrayed with dignity and respect.

We are proud that the Oscars reach several hundred million people around the world of whom 60% are Asians and potential moviegoers.

Sincerely,

• Don Hall, Sound Branch, John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, Academy Governor, 18 years
• Freida Lee Mock, Documentary Branch, Academy Award winner, Academy Governor, 6 years
• Arthur Dong, Documentary Branch, Academy Award nominee, Academy Governor, 4 years
• Ang Lee, Directors Branch, Two-time Academy Award winner
• Chris Tashima, Shorts and Feature Animation Branch, Academy Award winner
• Christine Choy, Documentary Branch, Academy Award nominee
• David Magdael, Public Relations Branch
• France Nuyen, Actors Branch
• George Takei, Actors Branch
• Janet Yang, Producers Branch
• Jessica Yu, Documentary Branch, Academy Award winner
• Jodi Long, Actors Branch
• Laura Kim, Public Relations Branch
• Marcus Hu, Executives Branch
• Maysie Hoy, Film Editors Branch
• Nancy Kwan, Actors Branch
• Peter Kwong, Actors Branch
• Renee Tajima-Pena, Documentary Branch, Academy Award nominee
• Rithy Panh, Documentary Branch, Academy Award nominee
• Ruby Yang, Documentary Branch, Academy Award winner
• Sandra Oh, Actors Branch
• Steven Okazaki, Documentary Branch, Academy Award winner
• Teddy Zee, Executives Branch
• William Hoy, Film Editors Branch
• Yung Chang, Documentary Branc

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