Chris Rock's brother Tony to host Russell Simmons 'alternative Oscars'

It will be staged four days prior to the real Academy awards and is expected to feature mostly African-American stars who won’t be turning up at the more famous film ceremony after they controversially failed to pick up nominations. But the All Def movie awards, which creator Russell Simmons has teasingly suggested “could be” the black Oscars, has at least recruited a comedian named Rock to host.

It won’t be 2016 Oscars host Chris Rock who turns up at the TCL Chinese theatres, right next to its rival’s Dolby theatre venue, however. Instead, his brother Tony, also a standup comic and actor, will be on hand on Thursday night to herald movies such as hip-hop biopic Straight Outta Compton and Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq.

“Hopefully this awards show will create dialogue that will get things moving as far as the Oscars is concerned, as far as casting is concerned, as far as what people write and produce, and how we’re perceived in television and how we’re shown in the media,” Tony Rock said on US TV show Entertainment Tonight. He also said the alternative awards show was “needed” because dialogue “can create a change”.

Rock, who at 41 is 10 years younger than his more famous brother, has previously made headlines by arguing that black people need to stop begging for acceptance from whites via the Oscars. “I don’t understand why black people feel this undying need to be down with white people all the time,” he said last month in a video posted by TMZ. “You don’t like our movies, we go over here and do our own awards show for our music and our movies and our culture.”

Rock told Entertainment Tonight he believed his brother would not hold back on Sunday night when he takes to the stage at the Dolby.

“You have to address the big black elephant in the room. Or the big black elephant that wasn’t allowed to attend the Oscars. How about that one?” he said. “[And] he does. He does it his way … he’s known for saying things that people wish they could say and get away with. He’s known for pushing the envelope. He’s going to do all of that.”

The All Def movie awards were launched by Simmons in the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that has overshadowed this year’s awards season after the Academy failed to include a single black person among its acting nominees for the second year running. Beasts of No Nation, Chi-Raq, Concussion, Creed, Dope and Straight Outta Compton will compete for best picture; guests will arrive on a black carpet, and as well as handing out prizes for best actor, best actress, best director and “best bad muh fucka”, there will be prizes for “best helpful white person” and “best black survivor in a movie”.

Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam and producer of films such as Krush Groove and The Nutty Professor, has said his awards are “not the black Oscars, but they could be”, adding: “This will be a fun, entertaining and hopefully thought-provoking celebration of the uncelebrated.” A one-hour highlights package for the All Def movie awards will be aired on the Fusion cable network on Sunday, during the Oscars screencast.