Oscars: Tom Holland, Letitia Wright and Adele join Academy

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Tom Holland, Letitia Wright, Adele, Lady Gaga and Winston Duke have been named among 842 new members added to the Oscars Academy.

That’s the group of people who decide who win Oscars each year.

And after criticism of its lack of diversity, the new additions are 50% women and 29% are people of colour.

You might remember #OscarsSoWhite being used in 2015 and 2016 in protest at the lack of actors of colour being nominated for top acting awards.

The new additions are more inclusive and representative of the movie industry following this criticism.

Overall female membership is now 32% – up from 25% in 2015.

People of colour make up 16% of the Academy’s membership now – double what it was four years ago.

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Gemma Chan, Winston Duke and Lady Gaga are also new names in the Oscars voting academy

In 2016, people like Jada Pinkett Smith and director Spike Lee said they would boycott the Oscars when only white actors were nominated for the big awards.

Chris Rock hosted the event, but there was pressure on him to step down due to the backlash.

To address this, the people asked each year to join the voting panel since then has become more diverse.

People like Riz Ahmed, Priyanka Chopra, Gal Gadot and Naomie Harris joined in 2017.

And 2018 saw Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish, Amy Schumer, Daniel Kaluuya and Timothée Chalamet added.

Other new names on the 2019 list include Captain Marvel and Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan and British actress Claire Foy, who you may have seen in The Crown.

Jamie Bell, Elisabeth Moss, Archie Panjabi and Amanda Peet have also been added.

They’ve been selected from 59 countries from around the world.

It’s estimated there are now 10,000 voting members of the Oscars academy.

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