The 88th Academy Awards are unlikely to feature many winners of color after the organization’s members nominated mostly white contenders — including all 20 acting nominees — but the ceremony as a whole will be far from homogeneous, according to one of the show’s producers.
This year’s Oscars telecast “will be the most diverse ever,” David Hill told Variety at the annual Oscars nominee luncheon Monday, adding that the show “will represent what the world looks like.”
The academy has already announced an inclusive lineup of presenters for the show, including Quincy Jones, Byung-hun Lee, Priyanka Chopra, Kerry Washington, Olivia Munn, Whoopi Goldberg, Benicio del Toro, and Kevin Hart. Chris Rock is hosting.
Since nominations were announced last month, prompting the return of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the academy has overhauled its membership and pledged to diversify its ranks.
At the luncheon Monday, academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs acknowledged the issue once again. “There is an elephant in the room,” she said. “I’ve asked the elephant to leave.”