The Academy Responds to #OscarsSoWhite, Announces Efforts to Double Minority Members

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this afternoon that they’re taking immediate steps to address the diversity issues raised by #OscarsSoWhite.

They announced today that their board of governors officially voted to make the Academy membership more diverse. The’ve gotten lots of criticism for how overwhelmingly old, white, and male the Oscar voters are.

They’re planning to double the number of “diverse members” by 2020.

The Academy laws out a new set of rules about membership, as well as planning to add “new members who are not Governors to its executive and board committees where key decisions about membership and governance are made.”

This all comes on the heels of major black celebrities speaking out about #OscarsSoWhite after it turned out that all the acting nominees this year are white.

[image via Shutterstock]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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