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Film academy adds minority leadership; apologizes to Asians

March 16, 2016

Host Chris Rock, right, and children participate in a skit at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has added three new governors to its 51-member board and appointed six minority members to other leadership positions in its latest response to the OscarsSoWhite diversity crisis. The academy also apologized to Asians for a racially insensitive skit during last month’s Oscar show.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the new appointees late Tuesday after a meeting of the organization’s Board of Governors. The board also ratified other changes proposed in January aimed at increasing diversity within the academy’s ranks, including limiting Oscar voting rights to those active in the movie business.

Boone Isaacs said in a statement that she’s proud of those efforts. “However, we know there is more to do as we move forward to make this a more inclusive organization,” she said.

New committee members include actor Gael Garcia Bernal, cinematographer Amy Vincent and producer Effie Brown. The new governors are writer Gregory Nava (“Frida”), director Jennifer Yuh Nelson (“Kung-Fu Panda”) and Reginald Hudlin, who produced the most recent Academy Awards.

Hosted by Chris Rock, the show dipped to an eight-year ratings low and offended at least two dozen Asian academy members with skits that played on Asian stereotypes.

Earlier Tuesday, the academy released a statement saying it “regrets that any aspect of the Oscar telecast was offensive.”