Chris Rock, a stand-up comedian and actor himself, quickly addressed the issue, branding this year's Oscars the "White People's Choice Awards" then turning to calls for him to quit as host.

WATCH: He was expected to get his hands dirty, and Chris Rock didn't waste any time getting down to business as host of the Oscars.

Live coverage of the red carpet, the winners, reactions, mistakes and snubs with Spy Editor Ricardo Simich, The Hits host Polly Gillespie and NZME's Laura McGoldrick.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been nominated five separate times for an Academy Award. But he's never won one - until, possibly, today.

We'll have all the action from the Oscars red carpet and beyond, live on nzherald.co.nz.

Laura Carmichael thinks the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations is "disappointing".

Lady Gaga's song-writing partner has teased a "mind-blowing" performance from the singer at the Oscars.

From abandoned astronauts to testosterone-fuelled Wall Street traders, dogged reporters and frontiersmen bent on revenge, it is a man's world in the best picture race at Sunday's Oscars with women again taking supporting roles.

We'll have all the action from the Oscars red carpet and beyond, live on nzherald.co.nz from 11am on Monday.

We'll have all the action from the Oscars red carpet and beyond, live on nzherald.co.nz from 11am on Monday.

Here's the lowdown on what nominees Eddie Redmayne, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet will feast on at this year's Academy Awards after-party.

We'll have all the action from the Oscars red carpet and beyond, live on nzherald.co.nz from 11am on Monday.

Diversity - or the lack of it - among Academy Award nominees has overshadowed this year's Oscars, but 44 per cent of Americans do not support the idea of boycotting the movie industry's biggest night, according to a Reuters/Ispsos poll.

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke says the movie industry is going backwards in terms of gender diversity with not one female director nominated for an Oscar this year.

A Leonardo DiCaprio video game has been created in which players help the star to try to win an Oscar.

A "Vampire Breast Lift". A laser skin-tightening procedure. A 10-day first-class trip to Israe

Do stars create dopplegangers in this year's nominated movies?

COMMENT: The white face is default. Anything else is jarring and needs to be justified, writes Raybon Kan. So for two years in a row, all 20 of the Oscar nominees for acting are white.

Chris Rock's publicist has dismissed reports suggesting the comedian is rewriting his Academy Awards monologue in the aftermath of the Oscars diversity row.

The announcement of this year's whites-only Academy Awards acting nominees produced a flurry of #OscarsSoWhite articles - about the older, white, male voters who picked them, about the performances by black actors some thought were snubbed.

Reese Witherspoon is "disappointed" at this year's Academy Awards nominations.

How does Kiwi Zoe Bell's view on the petition to introduce an Academy Award for stunt people.

Star says all-white nomination list makes attending the Academy Awards "awkward".

Legendary musician Quincy Jones will step down from presenting at the 2016 Academy Awards if he is banned from mentioning the lack of diversity.

The 2016 Academy Awards nominations were announced almost a week ago, but the controversy over the nominees - or non-nominees - is only increasing.

Snoop Dogg has lashed out at the ceremony in an explicit video post.

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs is "heartbroken and frustrated" by the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar nominations but says big changes are on the way.