At least one member of Public Enemy is upset over Chris Rock’s use of the group’s seminal record “Fight the Power” to open this year’s Oscars.
The point of playing the song as Rock walked out (and to close the show) was obviously to poke fun at the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and boycott by invoking the anti-establishment message of “Fight the Power.”
But, the joke didn’t land for everyone. While the Academy seems to be pushing hard to diversify and change its exclusionary ways, Public Enemy member Professor Griff thinks these efforts are all phony and useless.
TMZ reports:
Group member Professor Griff tells us he thinks the Academy was just paying lip service to black protesters and will go right back to business as usual.
Griff says Public Enemy is all about change — radical change — and the Academy’s efforts fly in the face of that. He adds, “The show can’t claim the blackness of Public Enemy’s message.”
New York radio station Hot 97 also did a segment about the use of “Fight the Power” at the Oscars being “offensive.” Though Ebro approved of the obvious irony, Peter Rosenberg opposed, stating, “To see the awards show end with this powerful song playing and just rich white actors laughing with each other, Jared Leto in his rose tie and Charlize Theron in her scoop neck dress, the whole concept to me was so offensive.”
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