Of all the white Oscar nominees of this year’s Academy Awards — and there are a lot of ’em! — Sylvester Stallone is probably the last you’d expect to offer to boycott the awards in solidarity with his director. Not because of any particular racism or ego on the part of Stallone, but because it’s just been so damn long since he’s gotten any praise. Yet, he seems to have done just that, saying that he’d asked Creed director Ryan Coogler if he should boycott.
The Wrap reports that, at Monday’s Academy Awards luncheon, Stallone, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in last year’s excellent Creed, said, “I remember I spoke with Ryan Coogler when this happened and I said, ‘How do you want to handle this? Because I feel like you are responsible for me being here.'” This is a long way away from Stallone’s Golden Globes acceptance speech, during which he forgot to thank Coogler. (He later thanked both Coogler and co-star Michael B. Jordon on Twitter, land of the celebrity apology.)
According to Stallone, Coogler insisted he attend the ceremony. “I said, ‘If you don’t want me to go, I won’t.’ He said, ‘I want you to go.’ That’s the kind of guy he is,” Stallone said. “He wanted me to stand up for the film.”
Watch Stallone’s Golden Globes acceptance speech below, and tune into the Academy Awards on February 28.