Oscars More Diverse as Pandemic, Protests Shake up Hollywood

(L-R) British actor Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, South Korea's Youn Yuh-jung and Viola Davis are all among the favorites to win Oscars -- reflecting the increased diversity in the 2021 nominees - AFP
(L-R) British actor Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, South Korea's Youn Yuh-jung and Viola Davis are all among the favorites to win Oscars -- reflecting the increased diversity in the 2021 nominees - AFP
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Oscars More Diverse as Pandemic, Protests Shake up Hollywood

(L-R) British actor Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, South Korea's Youn Yuh-jung and Viola Davis are all among the favorites to win Oscars -- reflecting the increased diversity in the 2021 nominees - AFP
(L-R) British actor Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, South Korea's Youn Yuh-jung and Viola Davis are all among the favorites to win Oscars -- reflecting the increased diversity in the 2021 nominees - AFP

Actors of color are favorites in each category, and two female directors are nominated for the first time -- this year's Oscars could set new benchmarks for diversity, thanks to long-brewing industry changes as well as Covid-19's transformation of Hollywood, experts say.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has drastically reformed its membership in recent years, admitting large batches of new Oscars voters each year who better reflect society's diversity, after much criticism for its mainly white, male base.

"I think that this Oscars will be forever remembered as the one where changes in the voting body made six years ago in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite has delivered on a promise by the Academy to reform itself," Black US actor Dwayne Barnes ("Menace II Society") wrote in a column for industry site Deadline, AFP reported.

While it is difficult to draw a direct line from those changes to this year's nominations, the current Oscars race is startlingly different from those seen in previous years.

Last year, Cynthia Erivo was the sole non-white actor among 20 nominations, but this time the late Chadwick Boseman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), Black British actor Daniel Kaluuya ("Judas and the Black Messiah") and South Korean star Youn Yuh-Jung ("Minari") are the firm front-runners for acting statuettes.

Boseman's co-star Viola Davis is among a crowded pack vying for best actress, while Beijing-born Chloe Zhao ("Nomadland") looks like a shoo-in for best director if she can fend off Emerald Fennell ("Promising Young Woman").

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign was launched in January 2015 on social media to denounce and draw attention to the overwhelming majority of white nominees rewarded year after year by the Academy.

At the time, the Academy's 6,000 members were 93 percent white and 76 percent male.

By this summer, the prestigious group had reached a goal of doubling the number of women and non-white members, reaching one-third female and 19 percent "underrepresented minorities."

"It took a few years to take hold, but there is every reason to hope that the change (in the crop of nominees) is... not a one-time occurrence," wrote Barnes.



Rihanna Reveals Third Pregnancy on Met Gala Night

Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
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Rihanna Reveals Third Pregnancy on Met Gala Night

Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP
Rihanna made a fashionably late entrance at the Met Gala -- showcasing a new baby bump. Angela WEISS / AFP

Rihanna loves to make an entrance at the Met Gala, and she certainly did it again Monday -- this time, announcing to the world that she is pregnant with her third child with rapper A$AP Rocky.

News of the 37-year-old singer and beauty mogul's new baby bump came before her arrival at the A-list fundraising gala, AFP said.

In a portrait put on Instagram by photographer Miles Diggs, she embraced the Black dandy theme of the gala in a fitted gray Miu Miu blouse and skirt -- the baby bump clearly visible -- matching knee-high boots, a fur stole and a black cloche hat.

Then her long-time partner A$AP Rocky, a co-chair of the event, confirmed the news to reporters who offered congratulations on the red carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," the rapper said. "I'm glad everybody's happy for us because we're definitely happy."

Finally, after all of the other guests had arrived, Rihanna hit the red carpet in a deconstructed black ensemble with a cropped jacket, polka dot accessories and a wide-brimmed hat. She cradled the baby bump and smiled for the cameras.

Rihanna made a similarly high-profile pregnancy reveal in 2023 -- while performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. She attended the Met Gala later that year before giving birth.

She and A$AP Rocky are parents to sons RZA, born in May 2022, and Riot, born in August 2023.

Showing off a baby bump at the Met Gala is a thing: retired tennis superstar Serena Williams did it in 2023, and model Karlie Kloss cradled her bump in both 2023 and again this year.