Referring to the all-white roster of this year’s Oscar acting nominees, Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was “heartbroken and frustrated”.

Cheryl Boone Isaacs

Isaacs pledged “dramatic steps to alter the make-up of our membership” in light of the #OscarsSoWhite furore that led Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith to announce earlier on Monday they would be boycotting the February 28 Academy Awards ceremony.

The Academy unveiled its nominees last Thursday and triggered outrage when many felt deserving non-white actors were omitted, resulting in an all-white line-up for the second year in a row.

“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees,” said Isaacs, the Academy’s first African-American president. “While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. 

“This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the make-up of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.

“As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years. But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly. 

“This isn’t unprecedented for the Academy. In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was about recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

“We recognise the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.”