Naomi Campbell says the next Oscars has to "be black".
The Academy Awards has long faced backlash for not representing people of colour.
In 2016, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was created to call out the lack of diversity in the nominations.
And the 50-year-old model-and-actress says that following the Black Lives Matter protests across the globe this summer, there will be many educational movies made to highlight racism as a result, which must not be ignored during the 2021 awards season.
During the latest episode of her YouTube series, ‘No Filter with Naomi’, Naomi – who was joined by special guest Mary J. Blige – said: "The next Oscars and award season is going to be totally educational and I’m sorry but it’s going to be black! … I’m not saying it in any way or form to be biased … but what we’re going through in the world today, all these wonderful historical people are going to come up [in film] and there’s no way you can deny their stories and not give them the credits they deserve."
Earlier this month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new set of Inclusion Standards for movies to be eligible for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, starting with 2024 ceremony.
The Oscars have come up with a number of new requirements in order "to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience."
The movies will have to tick at least two of four representation boxes, which have a number of subcategories.
To be eligible to win the prestigious accolade the films must have employed a set number of actors, production members, marketing staff and interns who are women, people of colour, disabled or are among the LGBTQ+ community.
The storyline will also need to be diverse, and the motion picture needs to have offered traineeships or apprenticeships, be it on screen or behind the camera, to people from different backgrounds.
Although the new rules won’t come into effect until 2024, an Academy Inclusion Standards form will be required in order to be considered for the 2022 ceremony and the 2023 ceremony.
However, the 2021 ceremony, which is due to be held on April 25, will not be included.
In a statement, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said: "The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them
"The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality. We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry."
Head to www.youtube.com/c/Naomi/videos to stream all episodes of ‘No Filter with Naomi’.