By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Comedian Kevin Hart’s career continues to thrive and now he can officially add being in the academy to his resume.
With the Oscars voting committee hoping to bring more diversity to the awards show, the comedian is now a voting member.
Common also secured an invite too.
Page Six writes:
Kevin Hart, David Oyelowo, Common, Benedict Cumberbatch and Emma Stone are now members of the film academy.
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the names of 322 new members Friday, calling them a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before.
Other new members include Sergio Mendes, Elizabeth Banks, John Legend, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and “Dope” director Rick Famuyiwa.
Academy membership is by invitation only. Oscar nominees are automatically invited; others must be sponsored by two members of their branch of filmmaking.
This move happens amid the Oscars getting severe social media backlash for not being diverse enough, and having predominately white males as voting members.
They are only doing this because the ratings were bad for the last one. People of color just aren’t interested in the Oscars anymore. And why should we be? If you aren’t playing a slave, white man’s whore, terrible single mother, overweight singer or violent drug dealer, you won’t get an award anyway.
Congratulations to them.
That’s nice but I think it may be a little too late for them to get diverse now.
Kevin Hart is TPTB favorite token right now.
They want those black viewers!!
Bingo!
I see what they are trying to do but I doubt I will watch the Oscars ever again. It’s so boring.
So out of 322 new members we have approx 10 women and people of color combined?!!!