CHRIS ROCK UNLOADS Oscars host rips 'sorority'-like racism in Hollywood

Comedian Chris Rock hosts the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Califoia February 28, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTS8FZA

Chris Rock addressed Hollywood’s diversity issue as the film industry handed out its shiny gold statues at the 88^th Aual Academy Awards.

“I counted at least 15 black people on that montage,” Rock joked after he hit the Oscar stage Sunday night following clips from the year’s nominated films. “You realize if they nominated hosts I wouldn’t even get this job. You’d be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.”

Rock addressed the pressure on him to boycott the show.

“People are like Chris, you should boycott. Chris, you should quit! How come it’s only unemployed people to tell you to quit something.”

“I thought about quitting, I thought about it real hard,” he said, before deciding. “They’re goa have the Oscars anyway!”

Rock summed up racism in Hollywood.

“Everyone wants to know in the world, is Hollywood racist?” he said. “Is it ‘buing cross racist’? No. Is it ‘fetch me some lemonade racist’? No. It’s a different type of racist…. Hollywood is ‘sorority racist.’ It’s like, we like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.”

“We want opportunity,” Rock concluded. “We want black actors to get the same opportunities.”

After Rock’s much-anticipated monologue, the Oscars got down to business and handed out some awards.

It was "Mad Max: Fury Road" making most of the early noise, with six wins including Sound Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, and Costume Design.

Swedish actress Alicia Vikander won the night’s first big award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Danish Girl,” and Mark Rylance took home the Best Supporting Actor award for "Bridge of Spies." Emmanuel Lubezki won for Best Cinematography for “The Revenant," "The Big Short” won for Adapted Screenplay, “Spotlight” won for Original screenplay," and "Inside Out" won for Best Animated Feature.

Still, it was the diversity issue that dominated, with Rock peppering in jokes about the controversy between awards, interviewing African-American moviegoers outside a theater in Compton, Calif., and co-starring in a skit with Tracy Morgan, Whoopi Goldberg, and Leslie Jones where black actors were digitally added to some of the night’s nominated films. The Oscars have been at the center of a swirling storm over diversity in Hollywood, with protests near the red carpet and some viewers and Hollywood heavyweights like Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee skipping the broadcast altogether.

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Sheryl Boone Issacs addressed the controversy on the red carpet before the show, telling ABC the Academy has "been focused on more inclusion inside our organization… so by us making sure that we are being inclusive with all the actives and initiatives that we do, our members are like ambassadors into the [movie industry].”

"I am here to say we are going to continue to take action and not just speak," she added.

Actor Kevin Hart (who Rock joked made "a movie a month") presented an award during the telecast and took the opportunity to urge positivity, congratulating all of the night's nominees. Addressing his fellow African-American actors, Hart said "at the end of the day, we love what we do, and we're breaking major ground doing it."

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