Will Smith becomes biggest star to boycott Oscars

W

ILL SMITH S

ays he will not attend the Academy Awards next month, joining his wife,

Jada Pinkett Smith

, and others in protest against two straight years of all-white acting nominees.

"My wife's not going. It would be awkward for me to show up with Charlize (Theron)," said Smith on ABC's "Good Morning America" yesterday. "We've discussed it, but at this current time, we're uncomfortable to stand there and say this is OK."

Smith, who some thought might be nominated for "Concussion," said his decision was "deeply not about me."

"This is about children that are going to sit down and they're going to watch the show and they're not going to see themselves represented," said Smith.

Smith becomes the biggest name to join a boycott of the Academy Awards following announcements by Spike Lee (an honorary Oscar recipient this year who will be attending a Knicks game) and Pinkett Smith.

Mark Ruffalo, nominated for his performance in Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight," told BBC News yesterday that he was "weighing" whether to skip the ceremony. But later in the day, he clarified that he will attend the Oscars "in support of the victims of clergy sexual abuse and good journalism"-the subjects of "Spotlight."

"I do support the Oscar Ban movement's position that the nominations do not reflect the diversity of our community," said Ruffalo.

Smith, who has been nominated twice before, for 2001's "Ali" and 2006's "The Pursuit of Happyness," said he believes the industry can do better.

"Diversity is the American superpower. That's why we're great," said Smith. "When I look at the series of nominations of the academy, it's not reflecting that beauty."

Amy Schumer

is vehemently denying she has stolen any jokes from a handful of comedians who questioned the originality of her material on Twitter.

It got Tattle thinking: What constitutes stealing a joke?

We've made wisecracks in this column that have ended up almost verbatim on "SNL's" "Weekend Update," but did those writers pilfer the joke from the Daily News or just see the situation in the same odd way and come up with the same punchline?

We're never sure.

But it was really weird when former Daily News Movie Critic Gary Thompson and Tattle came up with a movie idea and within a year, a movie with the same plot and same title went into production.

Damon Feldman

has made a name for himself as a promoter of celebrity boxing, putting people together in the ring who are typically more comfortable on the cover of the

National Enquirer

.

Or a lineup.

Now Damon is trying a little re-branding.

With business partner Greg Murray he's looking to sell a documentary film or a reality TV series-we like the series idea better-with Damon as "The 16th Minute Man."

Whether you're the Octomom or Michael Lohan, when you're 15 minutes of fame is winding down, Damon is the guy who gets you that extra minute - that chance to sell a book or be mentioned on TMZ. To get that one endorsement deal that can feed your family until you do something else crazy.

With all the offbeat celebs in Damon's Rolodex, the show could be a cross between professional wrestling, Jerry Springer and "Broadway Danny Rose."

Seriously, we need another season of "The Bachelor"?

*

R. Kelly

says in

GQ

magazine that there's something strange about the accusations against

Bill Cosby

.

Tattle says in the Philadelphia Daily News that there's something strange about R. Kelly choosing to comment about this subject.

* "Clueless'" Stacey Dash (hey, if the movie title fits) said yesterday on "Fox & Friends" that "If we don't want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET."

BET reminded Dash that she starred in the network's series "The Game" and she was free to send her paychecks back.

By the way, if we don't want silly celebrities mouthing off on topics, we need to get rid of . . . television.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

Email: gensleh@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5678

On Twitter: @DNTattle