The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced Jan. 15, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, and presented predominately white nominees across all categories.

For the first time since 1998, the nominees identified in the best actor and actress categories consisted of mostly older white males and influential white females.

With the exceptions of Sandra Adair in the editing category, very few women were nominated in the directors, screenwriters and cinematographers categories.

Included among the nominees for best actor were Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher,” Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper,” Benedict Comberbatch in “The Imitation Game,” Michael Keaton in “Birdman” and Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything.”

As for the best actress category the nominees included Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything,” Julianne Moore in “Still Alice,” Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl” and Reese Witherspoon in “Wild.”

After all the nominees were announced, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite began trending on Twitter and other social media platforms with people of all backgrounds sharing their thoughts and opinions.

Viewers and critics alike were also shocked as “Selma” was overlooked in the director, actor and original screenplay categories.

“Selma” was released in December 2014 as an American historical drama that presents the time of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign to support equal voting rights through a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.

The film was directed by Ava DuVernay, who just a few weeks ago became the first African-American woman to be nominated in the best picture category for the Academy Awards.

If DuVernay had been nominated for best director, she would have been the first African-American woman to have earned a spot in that particular category.

Many people also shared their thoughts via social media, on David Oyelowo’s performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in “Selma” and being overlooked in the best actor category.

In response to criticism and lack of diversity in this year’s nominees, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Film Academy, said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that, “In the last two years, we’ve made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members.

And, personally, I would love to see and look forward to see a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories.”

Isaacs later refrained from commenting on whether the Academy was at all embarrassed with the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees, but stated that she was proud of all the nominees and their accomplishments this past year. 

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