Stacey Dash's surprise Oscars cameo lands with a dull thud
The Clueless star turned controversial right-wing pundit’s appearance during this year’s ceremony led to mass confusion over its race message
Stacey Dash’s surprise appearance during theOscars ceremony was greeted as an expert act of trolling by a woman who has gone from starring in teen comedy Clueless to becoming a controversial Fox News pundit.
In an evening dominated by the issue of diversity within both the Academy and Hollywood, Dash’s brief cameo came as a surprise. The actor sparked anger earlier this year for comments suggesting it was time to erase bothBlack History Month and any awards that aim to reward achievements solely by black entertainers.
“I think it’s ludicrous,”she said on Fox & Friends in January. “We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration, and if we don’t want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels likeBET and the BET awards and the Image awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we’d be up in arms. It’s a double standard.”
It therefore came as a surprise that host Chris Rock introduced the star amidst a range of jokes aimed at an industry that often excludes actors of colour. He referred to her as “the new director of our minority outreach programme”. Dash then came onto the stage, laughing.
“I cannot wait to help my people out,” she told a confused audience. “Happy Black History Month!” The camera then shot tounderstandably embarrassed nominee the Weeknd. He wasn’t the only one who was bemused:
Bold move for Stacey Dash to come on the#Oscars with jokes just before a sister like@SarahKSilverman. "Bold," as in: don't do that.
— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright)February 29, 2016
That Stacey Dash moment was the strangest thing of all time.#Oscars
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn)February 29, 2016
The big upside to that Stacey Dash joke is now we all know what it sounds like when a tree falls in a forest and nobody's around.#Oscars
— Adam Liaw (@adamliaw)February 29, 2016
In a swiftly posted update on her blog, Dash explained her appearance and her decision to vote for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama.
“When they added ME to increase the diversity, I’m sure many black people rolled their eyes,” she wrote. “I’m not ‘black enough’, they say. But guess what? I’ve heard that all my life. I would rather be a free-thinking black than a cookie-cutter black who thinks – and votes – just like all my friends. Yes, I’m the actress from the South Bronx who has always dreamed of winning an Oscar. But God has a great sense of humour and this is my first encounter with one of my dreams of destiny. Bringing diversity to Hollywood … not merely because of colour, but politics as well.”
Dash’s acting career peaked in 1995 with a key turn in the cult teen comedyClueless and she later reprised her role in the spin-off TV series. In 2014, she became a contributor for “cultural analysis and commentary” for Fox News.
It was a rare bum note in an evening that saw Rock delivering a string of biting remarks about the lack of diversity within Hollywood. In his speech, he joked: “The In Memoriam montage is just going to be black people who were shot by the cops on the way to the movies.”