Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Stacey Dash makes awkward Oscars appearance as 'new director of minority outreach programme'

The controversial Fox News pundit recently criticised Black History Month

Olivia Blair
Monday 29 February 2016 04:00 GMT
Comments
(Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Following Chris Rock's opening monologue which addressed the #OscarsSoWhite controversy head on, the audience was left in a state of awkward silence when the host introduced Stacey Dash as the "new director of our minority outreach programme".

Best known for playing Cher’s sidekick Dionne in the cult 1995 film Clueless, Dash is now most associated with appearing as a contributor on Fox News.

Most recently she criticised those speaking out about and boycotting the Academy Awards over the lack of diversity in this year’s nominations, calling the furore “ludicrous”. She then received backlash on social media for also voicing her disagreement of having a Black History Month and the BET channel.

Therefore, the audience was left confused when a giggling Dash walked out and wished the audience a "happy Black History month".

The awkwardness was evident by the reaction of The Weeknd and Chrissy Teigen:

Viewers at home were equally confused:

Immediately after appearing at the ceremony, Dash shared a blog post she'd written which asked: 'Who is Stacey Dash and why did she just walk across the Oscar stage?'

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in