Lady Gaga has been invited to help choose future Oscar winners, in a fresh push by the academy to be more inclusive of women.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sends out hundreds of invitations to Hollywood royalty to be included in its ranks, and help vote on which films deserve its Oscar accolades.
The academy said this year women accounted for half of those invites sent out, including one to Lady Gaga.
The board of governors has vowed to double the number of women and non-white members by 2020, following calls to boycott its Oscar ceremony and an angry social media campaign under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
This year, 842 invitations were sent out, and for the first time, the annual intake has reached 50 per cent female.
After the most recent round of invitations, that will bring the overall proportion of female members of the academy up to 32 per cent (it was at 25 per cent just three years ago). Just below one-third of the admitted members are people of colour.
The new members now include “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu, “Roma” actress Marina de Tavira, and “Black Panther” cast members, Sterling K. Brown and Letitia Wright.
Newcomers this year also span the generations, including 23-year-old Spider-Man star Tom Holland, to legendary 88-year-old French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant.
