--- title: Ian McKellen: Gay People Also ‘Disregarded’ By Oscars description: Ian McKellen said the Academy Awards also discriminates against gay people amid mounting criticism of the lack of diversity among nominees. canonical: https://time.com/4192318/ian-mckellen-oscars-diversity-gay/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-25T14:48:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:08:31.548Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Ian McKellen: Hollywood Discriminates Against Gay People Too og:description: "It's not only black people who've been disregarded by the film industry" og:url: https://time.com/4192318/ian-mckellen-oscars-diversity-gay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c8f381dced24acc/69887a74cf40a81e4ac419f0/ian-mckellen-oscars-gay.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sir Ian McKellen Launches 'BFI Presents Shakespeare On Film' - Drinks Reception og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ian McKellen: Hollywood Discriminates Against Gay People Too twitter:description: "It's not only black people who've been disregarded by the film industry" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c8f381dced24acc/69887a74cf40a81e4ac419f0/ian-mckellen-oscars-gay.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ian McKellen Says Gay People ‘Disregarded’ By Hollywood  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 25, 2016 2:48 PM UTC  Sir Ian McKellen attends the launch of "BFI Presents Shakespeare On Film" at BFI Southbank on Jan. 25, 2016 in London, England. Sir Ian McKellen attends the launch of "BFI Presents Shakespeare On Film" at BFI Southbank on Jan. 25, 2016 in London, England.David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 25, 2016 2:48 PM UTC _Lord of the Rings_ star Ian McKellen said [the Academy Awards also discriminates against gay people](http://news.sky.com/story/1629333/mckellen-gay-actors-disregarded-in-hollywood?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter) amid mounting criticism of the lack of diversity among nominees. The 76-year-old actor, who is openly gay, said he feels empathy with Hollywood’s black stars as gay actors are still being treated differently due to their sexuality. “It’s not only black people who’ve been disregarded by the film industry,” he told Sky News on Monday. “It used to be women. It’s certainly gay people to this day.” The [recent Oscar nominations sparked outrage](http://time.com/4185071/oscars-diversity/) for their lack of diversity with zero non-white nominees in the acting categories for the second year in a row. Will Smith, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, and Spike Lee have all said they would [boycott the awards show](http://time.com/4184380/spike-lee-oscar-boycott-oscarssowhite/). Many others including George Clooney, Lupita Nyong’o and Viola Davis have spoken out about the controversy. “These are all legitimate complaints,” McKellen said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4192318/ian-mckellen-oscars-diversity-gay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4192318/ian-mckellen-oscars-diversity-gay/"},"headline":"Ian McKellen Says Gay People ‘Disregarded’ By Hollywood","datePublished":"2016-01-25T14:48:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:08:31.548Z","description":"\"It's not only black people who've been disregarded by the film industry\"","url":"https://time.com/4192318/ian-mckellen-oscars-diversity-gay/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c8f381dced24acc/69887a74cf40a81e4ac419f0/ian-mckellen-oscars-gay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c8f381dced24acc/69887a74cf40a81e4ac419f0/ian-mckellen-oscars-gay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sir Ian McKellen Launches 'BFI Presents Shakespeare On Film' - Drinks Reception","caption":"Sir Ian McKellen attends the launch of \"BFI Presents Shakespeare On Film\" at BFI Southbank on Jan. 25, 2016 in London, England.","creditText":"David M. 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