Academy President 'Heartbroken and Frustrated' Over Lack of Diversity in Oscar Nominees

Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that hands out the Oscars, released a public statement late yesterday expressing regret over the lack of diversity in this year’s Oscar nominees.

The all-white makeup of this year’s nominees has been protested widely online, with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite and inspired boycott threats from Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee.

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Said Isaacs, who released the statement in the form of a tweet (embedded below):

I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.

As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. but the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly.

This isn’t unprecedented for the Academy. In the ’60s and ’70s it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.