In an effort to diversify Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced new inclusion requirements to be eligible for the best picture category on Tuesday, and actress Kirstie Alley was not here for it.
The changes begin in 2022 with a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form and become more stringent in 2024, requiring films to meet two of four inclusion standards in order to be eligible for best picture to ensure representation for underrepresented ethnic/racial groups, women, LGBTQ+, and people with disabilities in roles on and off-screen.
Alley criticized the changes in a now-deleted tweet reported by Fox News, saying, “This is a disgrace to artists everywhere. Can you imagine telling Picasso what had to be in his f–king paintings. You people have lost your minds. Control artists, control individual thought .. OSCAR ORWELL.”
“I’ve been in the motion picture Academy for 40 years. The Academy celebrates freedom of UNBRIDLED artistry expressed through movies. The new RULES to qualify for “best picture” are dictatorial .. anti-artist..Hollywood, you’re swinging so far left you’re bumping into your own ass,” she wrote in another tweet.
Twitter users immediately came for the actress’s neck, with comic book writer Ethan Sacks replying, “Don’t worry, a little inclusion won’t be what’s keeping that Oscar statuette off your mantle….”
Another Twitter user replied, “Well, sis, given your career (or lack thereof), this won’t impact you. Ashe.”
“Can you imagine being this heated over giving more people OPPORTUNITY??? Can you imagine being this upset because more people will get JOBS???” another Twitter user lamented.
Alley tweeted Wednesday that she doesn’t feel the need to defend herself but felt it was important that people know she has a track record of diversity and inclusion in anything she’s produced and that she has fought for human and civil rights for 50 years.
The changes come five years after #OscarSoWhite controversy.
