Sunday night, Chris Rock hosted the Oscars and used his position as a platform to share and remind folks about the undeniable lack of diversity in Hollywood. At the end of the evening the Academy rounded out Rock’s statements by playing Public Enemy’s, “Fight The Power.” While their decision to use the anthem didn’t seem to make waves at the time, the group is now speaking out and is not too happy.
TMZ spoke with Public Enemy’s Professor Griff who slammed the Academy saying, “The show can’t claim the blackness of Public Enemy’s message.” While Chuck D voiced his opinion via Twitter after the show saying, “The point of the song is a call to making change eventually not just applauding the thought.”
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The Oscars stood by their choice to use the song. In a statement released to EW, Music Supervisor Byron Phillips explained, “[We wanted to] really set the tone for what the night was going to be and do something that was representative of Chris, and who Chris was, and the vibe and tone Chris wanted to set for the evening,” adding, “There was obviously nothing more perfect than ‘Fight the Power’ for that.”
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, if anything they should have played burn Hollywood burn at the Oscars