The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has extended invitations to 529 new members for its 2026 class — and the list carries an unusual headline name alongside its expected roster of actors and filmmakers: new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro.

Who’s In the 2026 Class

D’Amaro is joined in this year’s invitee list by a wave of recognizable names from in front of and behind the camera. Leading the actors’ branch additions are breakout stars Jacob Elordi and Teyana Taylor, alongside established names Jenna Ortega and Jon Bernthal.

The broader actors’ branch list reads like a cross-section of the past year’s biggest film conversations: “Frankenstein” stars Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth both earned invitations, as did Jenna Ortega for her work in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Death of a Unicorn,” “Weapons” star Julia Garner, and “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” lead Josh O’Connor. Rounding out the branch are Paddy Considine, Simu Liu, Anthony Ramos, Scoot McNairy, Tig Notaro, Bill Skarsgård, Wood Harris, and character-actor mainstays Jon Bernthal, David Dastmalchian, and Jemaine Clement.

Several long-tenured industry figures also received invitations that many observers felt were overdue, including both Safdie brothers — Benny Safdie (also nominated as a director/writer) and Josh Safdie — along with “Sirāt” filmmaker Oliver Laxe, who received invitations spanning both the directors’ and writers’ branches.

By the Numbers

This year’s class includes 95 Oscar nominees, 21 of whom are Oscar winners, along with three recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards. The total of 529 invitations is slightly down from last year’s 534, though the Academy emphasized that the composition of the class, not just its size, is the bigger story.

According to the Academy’s own breakdown, 42% of this year’s invitees are women, 56% come from underrepresented communities, and 53% are based outside the United States, spanning 60 different countries and territories — a meaningful increase from the 45% underrepresented-community figure reported in the 2025 class.

Should every invitee formally accept, total Academy membership — including emeritus members — would climb to 11,319, with 10,338 of those classified as active voting members. Under that scenario, the Academy’s overall membership would stand at 36% women, 25% from underrepresented communities, and 22% international.

“We are delighted to invite this remarkable group of film artists and professionals from around the world to join the Academy,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor in a joint statement. “Through their commitment to filmmaking, this year’s exceptionally talented class has made significant contributions to our global movie industry.”

Why Josh D’Amaro’s Invitation Stands Out

While studio executives joining the Academy isn’t unprecedented, D’Amaro’s invitation lands at a notable moment for Disney. Having stepped into the CEO role as part of the company’s broader succession plans, his Academy membership effectively cements his standing as one of the industry’s most influential voices — giving him a direct vote in the very awards process that helps shape the prestige and box-office fortunes of Disney’s own film slate, including output from Marvel Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Walt Disney Pictures.

For a studio chief this early into a new leadership tenure, the invitation functions as a notable industry signal: it places D’Amaro inside the same voting body — and informally, the same conversations — as the directors, actors, and craftspeople whose work his studio finances, distributes, and campaigns for during awards season.

What Happens Next

Academy membership isn’t automatic — each invitee must formally accept before their membership is confirmed, after which they join the voting body responsible for nominating and selecting future Oscar winners across every awards category. With several of this year’s invitees, including D’Amaro, Elordi, Ortega, Taylor, and Bernthal, representing both major studio leadership and some of the industry’s most in-demand performers, the 2026 class reflects the Academy’s continued effort to widen its membership across both creative and executive ranks of the film business.

Imtiaz Ali’s Partition-era drama Main Vaapas Aaunga, starring Diljit Dosanjh, Sharvari, Vedang Raina, and Naseeruddin Shah, released on June 12 and has been steadily building word-of-mouth despite a soft opening day. The film drew online criticism from some social media users who accused it of being “anti-national” over how it portrays Pakistan.

Composer AR Rahman responded on Wednesday by sharing a satirical Instagram post that mocked the criticism, reacting with a laughing emoji. The mock post’s headline jabbed at critics for objecting to a film that dared to depict Pakistan without the usual terrorist or spy tropes.

The film marks Rahman’s fifth collaboration with director Imtiaz Ali, following Rockstar, Highway, Tamasha, and Amar Singh Chamkila, with lyricist Irshad Kamil again on the soundtrack. The story is a multi-generational Hindi period romantic drama centered on the 1947 Partition of India.

This has solid hooks for a news segment: a respected, generally apolitical composer publicly trolling online critics, a Partition-themed film stirring nationalism debates, and an A-list cast (Diljit Dosanjh’s a big draw right now). It’s fresh — broke just hours ago — and has the controversy angle that tends to drive engagement.

The reveal: At a live recording of Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast on June 24 at New York’s 92nd Street Y, Millie Bobby Brown admitted that the end of “Stranger Things” had taken a real toll on her mental health. She specifically said she went into “a little bit of a slight, slight depression” after the Netflix series concluded its five-season run on New Year’s Eve.

In her own words: “It was very hard for me. I would not have expected that coming off of the show. I’m a very happy-go-lucky person,” she said, describing how unprepared she was for that emotional aftermath.

The friendship “damage control”: The 22-year-old admitted that finishing the show — which ran from 2016 to 2025 — left her feeling vulnerable in her relationships with co-stars like Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, and Joe Keery, to the point where she felt she needed to actively reach out and “mend” those friendships. She described it candidly: “I was like, ‘We’re still friends, right? Like, you’re not gonna stop talking to me anymore?’ I was like, ‘I’m sorry if I ever upset you,’ and was just trying to mend anything. It’s been 10 years, and I really want to be friends. You’re my sibling.” She even joked that her co-stars “probably thought I was crazy” for reaching out like that.

A genuinely emotional moment: She also revealed just how raw the feeling got in private — “I was on the beach, it was beautiful, and I just sat there crying.”

Context that adds weight to the story: Her comments come seven months after reports surfaced that she had filed a lengthy harassment and bullying complaint against a co-star ahead of filming the final season — though she and that co-star later put up a united front at the Season 5 premiere, walking the red carpet together.

Why it’s resonating: A widely discussed angle is how the show became inseparable from Brown’s own identity — having spent more time with her cast than with her own family across a decade of filming, the ending wasn’t just a job wrapping up; it represented closing out her childhood. She’s also entering a new personal chapter, now married to Jake Bongiovi, which made the timing of the show’s end feel even more layered.

The Eleven mystery, still unresolved: She also touched on the show’s biggest lingering question — Eleven’s fate — joking that the reactions to her hints have been “really split,” and revealing that the Duffer Brothers sworn her, her husband, and only one other person to total secrecy about what they actually intended.

Why this works well for your channel: it’s a genuine, vulnerable celebrity confession (always strong for engagement), ties into one of the biggest shows of the decade, has a nostalgia hook for Stranger Things’ massive global fanbase, and gives you quotable soundbites perfect for cutaways or text-on-screen highlights.