while fellow director spike lee and actress jada pinkett smith have vowed to boycott the february 28 awards show , the two - time oscar - nominated singleton said in a recent interview that academy nods are subjective honors , and do n’t necessarily reflect the quality of a given film .
it has such high ratings most years , so the image of hollywood 's annual showcase event .
the academy pledges ' big changes ' early in the day , according to members who spoke to thewrap , the backlash against this year 's academy award nominations escalated monday with announcements by director spike lee and actress jada pinkett smith that they would boycott the feb. 28 oscars ceremony , citing the absence of people of color in all four acting categories for the second year in a row .
 
i ’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year ’s nominees , " she said . "
advertisement “ there ’s only so many slots , though , ” singleton , who became the first african - american to earn a best director nomination for 1991 ’s boyz ‘ n the hood , told variety .
director john singleton defended the academy of motion picture arts and sciences on monday in the wake of the renewed # oscarssowhite controversy , which did not include any performers of color .
and isaacs was not even the first academy official to issue a call for diversity on martin luther king , jr. day — she was just the first to do so publicly .