Karen – sorry, we mean Kirstie Alley – is absolutely raging over the Oscars’ new rules awarding diversity in film
Kirstie Alley (Chris Polk/FilmMagic)
Kirstie Alley is absolutely furious at the Academy Awards for introducing new rules that reward diversity.
The actor, 69, who made a name for herself in the 1980s in NBC sitcom Cheers, lashed out at the Oscars’ new diversity standards, which were announced on Tuesday (9 September) in an effort to make Best Picture nominees more diverse.
The move was widely welcomed by many within the film and television industries – but it’s safe to say that Alley was not impressed.
“This is a disgrace to artists everywhere,” Alley wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “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.”
Kirstie Alley deleted her initial tweet, but doubled down on her comments.
The Look Who’s Talking star later deleted the tweet, but went on to double down on her views.
“I’ve been in the motion picture Academy for 40 years,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet. “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 a**.”
Alley continued to face backlash for her comments, with director Ava Duvernay responding with a GIF of a Black man slamming the door in a white man’s face.
The Sibling Rivalry actor replied: “I ask you to explore my record of diversity and inclusion in anything I’ve produced and throughout my life. I’m not perfect but have fought for human and civil rights for 50 years. I just don’t agree [with] mandated, impossible to ‘police’ quotas as a prerequisite [for] a ‘best’ picture.”
But as the furore intensified, Alley deleted her original tweet, and claimed she is in favour of diversity in film.
I deleted my first tweet about the new rules for best movie OSCARS because I feel it was a poor analogy & misrepresented my viewpoint. I am 100% behind diversity inclusion & tolerance. I’m opposed to MANDATED ARBITRARY percentages relating to hiring human beings in any business.
— Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) September 9, 2020
“I deleted my first tweet about the new rules for best movie OSCARS because I feel it was a poor analogy & misrepresented my viewpoint,” the actor wrote.
“I am 100 per cent behind diversity inclusion and tolerance. I’m opposed to MANDATED ARBITRARY percentages relating to hiring human beings in any business.”
New Oscars diversity rules will require films to meet certain criteria to be considered for the Best Picture award.
Alley’s comments came just hours after the Academy Awards announced that, from 2024, films hoping to qualify for the Best Picture award will have to meet a specific set of criteria for inclusion – both on and off-screen.
In order for a film to be considered for the top award, creators will have to outline exactly how they have strived to make their productions more diverse.
The Academy established four categories within its diversity standards: representation on-screen, among the creative crew, training schemes as well as internships and the film’s publicity, marketing and distribution teams. Films must meet two of the four standards in order to be considered.
“We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry,” Academy President David Rubin and Chief Executive Dawn Hudson said in a joint statement.
