SAG AWARDS ‘Spotlight’ wins best ensemble

Associated Press

The Screen Actors Guild Awards were not so white.

While the Academy Awards remain enveloped in a crisis over the diversity of its nominees, the 22nd annual SAG Awards on Saturday presented a stark antidote to the rancor that has overwhelmed Hollywood’s awards season. Awards were handed out to Queen Latifah, Uzo Aduba, Viola Davis and Idris Elba (twice), as the actors guild cast a loud vote in favor of diversity on big and small screens.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to diverse TV,” said Elba in his third trip on stage as a presenter. His first two were to accept awards for his supporting performance in the Netflix child soldier drama “Beasts of No Nation” and for his lead performance in the BBC miniseries “Luther.”

The night’s top honor, best ensemble in a film, went to the newspaper drama “Spotlight,” which came into Saturday badly in need of some momentum.

Elba made no direct reference to the crisis that has swept through Hollywood in the last two weeks – which might have been far less severe had he been nominated by the Academy Awards, as many expected. But it was on the minds and tongues of seemingly everyone Saturday night.

Carol Burnett accepted the SAG lifetime achievement award from presenters Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Surveying the room, she concluded with a tug of the ear and her signature phrase: “I’m so glad we had this time together.”