Matt Damon says Academy has ‘long, long way to go’ before fixing diversity problem

The actor urged Hollywood to do more to correct the disparity

Matt Damon has spoken out about the Oscar’s growing diversity row, saying the movie industry has “a long, long, long way to go” to solve the issue.

In a interview with the Associated Press, Damon said that Hollywood must do “much, much, much more” to represent the audiences who watch movies.

“We’re talking about huge systemic injustices around race and gender that are a lot bigger than the Oscars,” Damon said. “They’re massive issues in our industry and in our country.”

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On Friday (January 22), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it would be making a number of changes to address the lack of actors of colour nominated for awards in recent years.

The proposals include doubling its female and minority members by 2020.

Damon cautiously welcomed the move, calling it a “wonderful first step,” adding, “But that’s what it is, a first step.”

In September, the ‘Jason Bourne’ star apologised for comments he made regarding diversity in HBO’s ‘Project Greenlight’ documentary.

Damon was accused of ‘whitesplaining’ when he interrupted producer Effie Brown while she was making the case that films dealing with sensitive subjects should have a diverse directing team behind them.

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