The body which decides which actors, actresses, films, directors and more take home Oscars are introducing more women to the body.
The Oscars Academy (full name: Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science) has invited 842 new members to join the prestigious organisation, 50% of which are women and 29% people of colour.
Being the body which vote on who should get each coveted award, 21 members of the new intake are Oscar winners themselves.
Many familiar women are included on the list of new members, including Lady Gaga (who bagged the Best Original Song award for 'Shallows' this year), Claire Foy, Adele, Gemma Chan, Elisabeth Moss, Helen McCrory and Letitia Wright.
Famous men have also been added to the intake in the form of Will Poulter, Jamie Bell, Tom Holland, Damian Lewis, Sterling K Brown and Alexander Skarsgård.
Over the years, the Oscars has been famously criticised for its lack of diversity.
When the nominations were announced earlier this year, the absence of any women from both the best director and best film category was glaring for many.
Prior to this, in 2016, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite began trending online due to the lack of BAME nominees in the majority of categories, including the best actor and actress award. The movement resulted in several high-profile black entertainers, including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee, boycotting the event.
The Academy have noted how the new equal split in its new members means women now make up 32% of the overall membership of the Academy, compared to 2015 when the figure was 25%.
Similarly, the increase in members who are people of colour, means 16% of the Academy are people of colour, compared to 2015 when the figure was an abysmally low 8%.
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Olivia Blair is Entertainment Editor (Luxury) at Hearst UK, working across ELLE, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Olivia covers all things entertainment and has interviewed the likes of Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Michaela Coel and Ryan Gosling over the years.
