Oscars 2018: Frances McDormand steals the show with stirring 'inclusion' speech

If you didn’t know what an “inclusion rider” was before the 90th Academy Awards, you certainly will today, as Best Actress winner Frances McDormand put the niche industry phrase to the top of the agenda in her stirring speech at the Oscars last night.

Picking up the Oscar for her work as the tough-talking Mildred Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Dormand called for all the female nominees in the auditorium – including Meryl Streep – to stand before calling on the rest of the audience to “look around”.

The actress took home the coveted gong for her role in the Martin McDonagh directed film.

“Look around ladies and gentlemen,” McDormand, collecting her second Oscar, urged, “Because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financing. Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple of days, or you can come to ours – whichever suits you best – and we’ll tell you all about them.”

“I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentleman” McDormand concluded, “inclusion rider.”

For those not in the know, an “inclusion rider” is a contract clause that guarantees inclusivity for women and racial minorities on film and TV sets.

The Times Up movement has been urging big name players to push for “inclusion riders” on their contracts to help drive more equality in the entertainment industry, and now Frances McDormand, picking up her second Academy Award after winning one for Fargo in 1997, has put the item on every Hollywood agenda for the foreseeable future.

Frances McDormand’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri co-star Sam Rockwell also picked up an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. See the full list of winners from the 90th Annual Academy Awards here.

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