"Selma" was nominated for best picture and won the Oscar for best original song, but DuVernay told Entertainment Weekly in 2015 that she wasn't surprised by the directing snub.
"It would be lovely," she said. "When it happens to whomever it happens to, it will certainly have meaning. This is not me being humble, either. It's math."
Years later, "Selma" actor David Oyelowo also spoke about the Academy's response to the film.
"I remember at the premiere of 'Selma' us wearing 'I Can't Breathe' T-shirts in protest," he said at a 2020 Screen Talks live Q&A. "Members of the Academy called in to the studio and our producers saying, 'How dare they do that? Why are they stirring s---?' and 'We are not going to vote for that film because we do not think it is their place to be doing that.' It's part of why that film didn't get everything that people think it should've got and it birthed #OscarsSoWhite. They used their privilege to deny a film on the basis of what they valued in the world."
The Academy responded on Twitter: "Ava & David, we hear you. Unacceptable. We're committed to progress."