The Academy have announced a host of changes they are implementing in the wake of the Oscars race row.

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith

Stars including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Spike Lee and Mark Ruffalo have all spoken publicly about their disappointment that no black actors or actresses featured in the nominations for the 2016 awards.

On Friday (22.01.16), Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs unveiled the organisation's plans for the future, which includes a pledge to double the amount of female and minority members by 2020.

Cheryl said in a statement: "The Academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up. These new measures regarding governance and voting will have an immediate impact and begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition."

Another measure will see the Academy add three new seats to its board of governors, with the hope that these additions will help diversity the leadership of the organisation.

The latest celebrity to speak out about the race row is Sir Michael Caine, who said the colour of an actor's skin shouldn't be a reason to vote for him to take home an Oscar.

He told BBC Radio 4: "Yeah, but there's loads of black actors. You can't vote for an actor because he's black. You can't just say, 'I'm going to vote for him. He's not very good, but he's black. I'll vote for him.' You have to give a good performance."

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