Tiffany Haddish, Kendrick Lamar, Jada Pinkett Smith Get Academy Invites
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The organization that bestows the Oscars is continuing to lean into its promise to make its ranks more diverse by inviting a record 928 new members representing 59 countries to join including actors Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Gina Rodriguez and “The Rider” filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Haddish got the news from Melissa McCarthy on the set of their upcoming film “The Kitchen.”
“That super cool,” Haddish said in a video capturing the moment.
“So I get to vote?” Haddish added, before exclaiming with laughter: “I’m going to get movies for free?”
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says Monday that that 49 percent of its invitees are female and 38 percent of are people of color. Should all the invitees accept, the new class would boost its overall membership to be 31 percent female and 16 percent persons of color.
Other highly-recognizable invitees include Dave Chappelle, Jada Pinkett Smith, Amy Schumer, Christine Baranski, Sarah Silverman and Kyra Sedgwick.
“Hey yo. I’m in The Academy,” Pakistani-American Nanjiani, who co-wrote and starred in “The Big Sick,” tweeted Monday. His wife and co-writer Emily V. Gordon was also invited to join.