Quincy Jones Says He Won't Present At the Oscars If He Can't Address Lack of Diversity

Quincy Jones was invited to present an award at the upcoming Oscars ceremony but the music legend said he will only do so under one condition.

Billboard reports that at an appearance at NATPE 2016 on Wednesday, Jones said he will announce a winner only if he can talk about the absence of diversity amongst the nominees.

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“They called me to go present with Pharrell and Common,” he said. “I’m going to ask the board to let me speak for five minutes on this lack of diversity.”

Jones, who is a seven time Oscar nominee and among the first Black board members for the Academy, added that he “hates” the term “first Black” because it has implications of being the “only.” The 82-year-old continued in stating that there are only two approaches to addressing the lack of diversity in both the Academy members and the nominated artists.

“You can boycott or you can fix it. It’s frightening to see 90 percent white and 80 percent White male. It’s ridiculous. It’s wrong.”