Academy scrambles to recruit big-name black presenters for Oscars

THE Oscars film academy is pledging to double the number of minority members after criticism they’re ‘too white’, as producers fight to get big-name black presenters to this year’s Oscars.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 file photo, Oprah Winfrey attends the premiere of the Oprah Winfrey Network's (OWN) documentary series "Belief" at The TimesCenter in New York. Weight Watchers is getting another boost from Winfrey. The weight loss company's shares are soaring as a TV commercial starring Winfrey begins to air. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File)

THE film academy is pledging to double the number of female and minority members by 2020, and will immediately diversify its leadership by adding three new seats to its board of governors.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the changes on Friday, following a weeklong storm of criticism and calls for an Oscar boycott after academy members nominated an all-white slate of actors for the second year in a row.

Isaacs said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 51-member board of governors unanimously approved a series of reforms late Thursday to “begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition.”

Other changes include limiting members’ voting status to a period of 10 years.

Hollywood reaction came swiftly.

Boycotting ... Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith won’t attend the Academy Awards after not one black actor was nominated for an Oscar for the second year in a row. Picture: Kevin Winter

Ava DuVernay, director of last year’s best picture-nominee Selma, tweeted that “Shame is a helluva motivator.”

“Marginalized artists have advocated for Academy change for DECADES,” DuVernay wrote. “Actual campaigns. Calls voiced FROM THE STAGE. Deaf ears. Closed minds.”

And director Rick Famuyiwa, whose films include The Wood, Brown Sugar and last year’s Dope commented: “The devil is in the details.”

Meanwhile, producers for the Oscars telecast are scrambling behind the scenes to enlist prominent black presenters to dole out its top awards, including Best Picture, The New York Post is reporting.

“The Oscars are looking for a black celebrity to give out the Best Picture award,” one source told the newspaper’s Page Six section.

The insider added, “Names they are talking about include Oprah Winfrey and Morgan Freeman.

Another name on the academy’s list had been Will Smith, sources said.

But the Concussion actor revealed late last week on Good Morning America he’ll join his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, in boycotting the show.

The academy is under fire for failing to nominate any black actor for the second year in a row.

“We’re uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is OK,” Smith told host Robin Roberts, before joking, “My wife’s not going. It would be awkward to show up with Charlize (Theron).”

Speaking out ... Music legend Quincy Jones said he plans to comment on ‘the lack of diversity’.

Supportive ... Whoopi Goldberg said boycotting the Oscars isn’t fair to host Chris Rock. Picture: Getty Images

Music legend Quincy Jones revealed last week he was approached to be a presenter with Pharrell Williams and rapper Common.

But he said, “I’m going to ask (them) to let me speak for five minutes on the lack of diversity. If not, I’m not going to (present).”

Absent ... Director Spike Lee backed Jada Pinkett Smith’s call for a boycott of the Oscars. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision

Mark Ruffalo — who’s nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Spotlight — told the BBC he was debating a boycott before back-pedaling.

“I’m weighing it,” he said in an interview with the British broadcaster about whether he would attend.

“If you look at Martin Luther King’s legacy ... the good people who don’t act are much worse than the wrongdoers who are (purposely) not acting, and don’t know the right way.”

He later tweeted, “To clear up any confusion. I will be going to the Oscars in support of the victims of clergy sexual abuse and (in support of) good journalism.”

His movie centres on a church sex scandal.

Hosting duties ... In a new promo, Oscars host Chris Rock (pictured at an event celebrating the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr) called the Academy Awards, ‘The White BET Awards’.

While Spike Lee, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent have urged a boycott, Whoopi Goldberg said that isn’t fair to host Chris Rock.

“To boycott him seems just as bad,” she said this week.
Meanwhile, British actor Charlotte Rampling, who is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar this year, has claimed the call to boycott the Oscars is racist to white people.
“It is racist to whites,” she said in an interview on French Radio network Europe 1.

Backtracking ... Actor Mark Ruffalo hinted he might give the Oscars a miss, but has since recanted and said he will attend. Picture: Jeff Spicer

“One can never really know, but perhaps the black actors did not deserve to make the final list,” she added.

She also dismissed the idea that the Academy should introduce quotas to increase diversity.

“Why classify people? These days everyone is more or less accepted ... People will always say: ‘Him, he’s less handsome’; ‘Him, he’s too black’; ‘He is too white’ ... someone will always be saying ‘You are too’ (this or that) ... But do we have to take from this that there should be lots of minorities everywhere?”

The response to Rampling’s comment on social media was swift.

“MISSING: a set of marbles,” media commentator Piers Morgan wrote on Twitter.

“If found, please return to Charlotte Rampling.”

Controversial ... Best Actress nominee Charlotte Rampling called the boycott ‘racist to whites’. Picture: Agatha A. Nitecka/Sundance Selects

Originally published as Academy scrambles to recruit big-name black presenters for Oscars