The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has added “diverse voices” to its board after a row about ethnic diversity.<\/p>\n
Three new governors have been appointed, including African-American producer Reginald Hudlin and Korean-born director Jennifer Yuh Nelson.<\/p>\n
The move comes after several Hollywood figures boycotted this year’s Oscars.<\/p>\n
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said the board now had “much more of a diversity to it”.<\/p>\n
Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett-Smith were among those who objected to there being no non-white nominees in the acting categories and the row saw the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trending for several days after the nominations were announced.<\/p>\n
The Academy has also appointed six new committee members, which include Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal and African-American producers Effie Brown and Stephanie Allain.<\/p>\n
Boone Isaacs said: “We set out, even a few years ago, to have more inclusion and certainly have stepped it up.<\/p>\n
“We just want to keep this process going, and so were really happy that were able to announce these additions.”<\/p>\n
Other changes announced include limiting Oscar voting rights to those active in the movie business.<\/p>\n
The Academy also apologised after criticism from some Asian academy members who were offended by a skit during the Oscars show in February.<\/p>\n
Activists accused host Chris Rock of perpetuating racial stereotypes when he introduced a group of accountants, who turned out to be three Asian children in suits. One of the children was also given a Jewish surname.<\/p>\n
Rock then said: “If anybody is upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone, which was also made by these kids.”<\/p>\n
Boone Isaacs said she was “very sorry” people had been offended, adding: “I can understand the feelings and we are setting up a meeting to discuss, because as you well know, no one sets out to be offensive.<\/p>\n
“I think so much is achieved with dialogue, so much is achieved. And that is what we’ll continue to do: have dialogue, listen and just keep fixing.’<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has added “diverse voices” to its board after a row about ethnic diversity. Three new governors have been appointed, including African-American producer Reginald Hudlin and Korean-born director Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The move comes after several Hollywood figures boycotted this year’s Oscars. Academy president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":199468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n