Oscars a political campaign, says 'Star Wars' creator George Lucas

Filmmaker George Lucas has slammed Oscars, saying the awards are one big political campaign which does not recognise real artistic talent. Lucas, 70, was responding to CBS This Morning host Gayle King's question about whether he saw the all-white categories as a snub of eligible black actors, like Selma's David Oyelowo.

Academy officials were heavily criticised for the lack of diversity in their top picks for the acting awards, but Star Wars creator insists the snub came as no surprise to him. "There's always controversy. That's why I'm not a member. Everybody has their personal opinions about what they think (the nominations) should be. I think David, who was in (Lucas' 2012 film) Red Tails, is truly one of the great actors of all time.

"And you know, the director, Ava, is amazing... I think they're very, very talented people. But what can I say... The thing about the Academy, it's a political campaign, it has nothing to do with artistic endeavour at all. So it's a political campaign. It's like - why do we have a tendency to elect people who drift toward not the most talented, best and brightest we have in the country? It's all political," he said.