Hiring quotas used by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to judge annual Oscars “Best Picture” winners have caught the attention of a top federal civil rights official amid the administration’s crackdown on discriminatory woke policies.

Urged to take action by Washington-based legal watchdog Judicial Watch, President Donald Trump’s top civil rights adviser said she was open to digging into the Academy’s 2020 quota requirements, suggesting that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would take the lead.

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Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for Justice’s civil rights division, said on X, “We would be happy to receive leads about this — probably most suited for @USEEOC @andrealucasEEOC,” a reference to the Commission and EEOC acting Chairwoman Andrea Lucas.

.@HarmeetKDhillon, you might want to have your @CivilRights Division at @TheJusticeDept ask the Hollywood studios and the Oscars about their race, sex and other discrimination in hiring for movies… https://t.co/sWfirLZJzG

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 28, 2025

On Monday, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton revived an earlier concern about the DEI rules the academy adopted five years ago when it was under fire for being “so white.”

In the rules, the academy said that “Best Picture” winners will have to show a diverse cast and storyline. There was a big focus on “LGBTQ,” race, and disabilities.

We would be happy to receive leads about this — probably most suited for @USEEOC @andrealucasEEOC

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) June 28, 2025

“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them. The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality,” said the academy in a statement.  “We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”

In a post on X Monday, Fitton wrote, “@HarmeetKDhillon, you might want to have your @CivilRights Division at @TheJusticeDept ask the Hollywood studios and the Oscars about their race, sex and other discrimination in hiring for movies.”

After Dhillon responded on X, Fitton told Secrets that he was hopeful that the government would look into Hollywood DEI rules as it has done in higher education, notably at Harvard University.

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“It is good to see that the Justice Department and other federal agencies might finally hold Hollywood to account for their blatant DEI discrimination. Hollywood makes all the woke films it likes, but they can’t break the law in doing so,” said Fitton.

Last year, Fitton posted the list of DEI quotas and said, “The ‘Oscars’ also has unlawful quota system that requires woke race and sex discrimination across the entire film industry!  If you wonder why woke story lines appear in film after film, it is because this content literally required by ‘Oscars’ rules.”