Oscars Invite Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, And More To Join The Academy
Both artists were shortlisted for Best Original Song for the 2023 ceremony.
Taylor Swift and Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, are among the 398 individuals invited to join The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Should they accept, they will have the power to vote on future Oscar nominations and winners.
According to The Academy’s website, members must be “film artists working in the production of theatrically-released motion pictures,” and they are divided across 18 branches including Actors, Directors, Executives, and Music. Alongside Swift and Tesfaye, Austin Butler, David Byrne, Keke Palmer, and Ke Huy Quan have been invited to join.
In 2014, Tesfaye’s “Earned It,” which was featured in the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The artist nearly scored his second nomination this year after “Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from Avatar: The Way of Water was shortlisted for Best Original Song
Swift has not yet received an Oscar nomination, but she was also shortlisted for Best Original Song for her haunting “Carolina“ from Reese Witherspoon’s film adaptation of Where The Crawdad’s Sing. Despite campaigning for “All Too Well: The Short Film” to be nominated in the Best Live Action Short Film Category, Swift’s filmmaking debut unfortunately did not make the cut. The video did, however, win Best Music Video at The Grammys.
Both Tesfaye and Swift were invited to join The Academy in the music branch, meaning they can only vote on corresponding categories and Best Picture. Nevertheless, Swift plans to further her filmmaking career by writing and directing a full-length movie with Searchlight Pictures. As of right now, no details are available about the plot, cast, or release date, though Swift indicated at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival that she sees herself exploring a “comedic, irreverent place.”
Meanwhile, Tesfaye has dipped into acting with a starring role in The Idol, a television series he co-created with Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim. The show premiered at Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and its final episode will air on July 2.
