As Screen Actors Guild and stars such as Angie Dickinson weigh in on the debate, Oscars president further explains thinking behind controversial rule change Related: Oscar nominees weigh in on lack of diversity: 'there’s an elephant in the room' As the president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs has had a challenging few weeks, coping with the fallout from a set of acting nominations which – for a second consecutive year – featured no people of colour.