Oscars diversity pledge will take time to yield results, observers say
Academy agrees to double female and minority membership by 2020, after criticism of all-white nominee list for acting honours – criticism that this year’s Oscars ceremony host Chris Rock will mine for laughs
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscars has launched a landmark campaign to diversify the ranks of Oscars voters who decide which actors, movies and filmmakers earn recognition, but Hollywood’s highest honours may remain a predominantly white affair for some time to come.
Amid an outcry against a field of Oscar-nominated performers lacking a single black person for a second straight year, the academy announced a sweeping affirmative action programme on Friday, pledging to double female and minority membership by 2020.
READ MORE: Critics blame all-white Oscar nominees list on studio heads’ conservatism
Despite the controversy, black comedian Chris Rock will not step away from the high-profile job of hosting this year’s awards, said the show’s producer, Reginald Hudlin. He told Entertainment Tonight at an NAACP Image Awards luncheon the comedian has scrapped material he prepared for the show.
“As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, ‘I’m throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show,’” said Hudlin.
“You should expect [#OscarsSoWhite jokes],” he said, adding: “And, yes, the Academy is ready for him to do that.”
READ MORE: ‘I don’t think about it’: Robert Redford addresses diversity in film at Sundance
The largely white, male, middle-aged make-up of the 6,000-plus film industry professionals who belong to the academy has long been cited as a barrier to racial and sexual equality at the Oscars.