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Frances McDormand’s speech at Oscars 2018: What is an inclusion rider? Woman behind diversity clause explains all

Many Oscars viewers were left baffled by Frances McDormand’s Best Actress acceptance speech as she ended by simply saying the words “inclusion rider”.

While many people in the audience and at home seemed puzzled by the unknown phrase, the woman who coined it has explained exactly why the Three Billbaords star used it during Sunday night’s ceremony.

Stacy Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California, first explored the concept of an ‘inclusion rider’ during a TED talk back in 2016.

The rider is a clause that can be inserted into an actor or actress’ contract that requires cast, crew and producers to meet a certain level of diversity on every project.

Speaking out: Frances McDormand on stage (Kevin Winter/Getty)
Speaking out: Frances McDormand on stage (Kevin Winter/Getty)

“The real goal is to counter bias in the auditioning and casting process,” Smith told The Guardian.

“The goal is that talent can take the inclusion rider and adopt it in ways that make sense for their values and their beliefs.”

She added: “The typical feature film has about 40 to 45 speaking characters in it.

“I would argue that only 8 to 10 of those characters are actually relevant to the story. The remaining 30 or so roles, there’s no reason why those minor roles can’t match or reflect the demography of where the story is taking place.

“An equity rider by an A-lister in their contract can stipulate that those roles reflect the world in which we actually live.”

Speaking on stage on Sunday night, McDormand asked all of the female nominees in the audience to stand up, to highlight to lack of female representation in the industry.

She finished by saying: “I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.”