Cumberbatch Is On Your Side, Oyelowo

There were a lot of disappointments in this year's Oscar nominations, and a lot of them revolved around Selma . And now that the actual Oscars are closing in, the actual Oscar nominees are speaking up about the nominations' fatal flaw. Among them: Benedict Cumberbatch is mourning David Oyelowo's snub. In fact, he'd be voting for his Selma performance if he had the chance.

Cumberbatch said as much on the red carpet for the BAFTAs:

I wish David Oyelowo was here tonight. I don’t understand it. He would have got my vote.

I'm right there with you, Cumberbatch: Oyelowo's snub makes next to no sense and falls in line with a number of major problems embedded in both Hollywood and the awards system designed to celebrate it. It's nice to know, at the very least, that some of the people who did get the nominations realize what's missing.

Oyelowo, for his part, recently defended Cumberbatch after the Cumberblunder that found him in hot water after using the word "colored" to describe actors of color. As Oyelowo told The Guardian:

I think it’s ridiculous. When you look at what he was actually saying it’s clear that he’s a huge supporter of black performers. To attack him for a term, as opposed to what he was actually saying, I think is very disingenuous and is indicative of the age we live in where people are looking for sound bites as opposed to substance.

I think it’s just part of the silly news cycle that we all feed off and it will go away like chip paper as it does. He’s a brilliant actor, he gives a brilliant performance in Imitation Game and, like I say, it’s just a diversion from what we should be talking about, which is that astounding performance.

Here's to hoping Oyelowo scores a nomination in the future — and that we get to see a whole lot more of the friendship between these two men. I'm all about people in Hollywood supporting each other instead of tearing each other down.