Oscars 2016: Chris Rock attacked for 'racist' Asian joke at awards ceremony

Oscars host Chris Rock angered viewers with a joke about Asians on a night in which he attacked Hollywood’s lack of diversity.

Three children were brought on stage as part of a sketch that appeared to play on the stereotype of Asians being good at maths.

Rock, who had used his opening monologue at the awards to accuse Hollywood of racism, introduced them as accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

He described them as the firm’s “most dedicated, accurate and hard-working representatives” who had been recruited to keep a record of the results.

He added: "It's OK, it's OK, thanks guys, thanks a lot. If anybody is upset about that joke just tweet about it on your phone, that was also made by these guys."

As predicted the comments sparked outrage on social media, with users on Twitter branding it “racist”.

In his opening monologue, Rock addressed the issue of diversity which had sparked calls to black actors to boycott the event.

All of the 20 nominees in the best acting or best supporting acting categories were white.

Rock said: "Is Hollywood racist? You damn right Hollywood’s racist. Hollywood is sorority racist. It’s like, ‘We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa’.”