The Hypocrisy of Hollywood
The racist roots of Hollywood became exposed recent events showcase hypocritical responses to the actions of actors.
The hypocrisy of Hollywood runs deep as three recent events have shattered the image of showbiz. These are Will Smith’s slap, Ezra Miller’s constant assaults of people, and Ansel Elgort headlining a new show despite accusations of sexually assaulting a minor. These actors are still signed on to their roles and contracts while one is losing projects and is basically blacklisted.
Illustration by Zipporah Pruitt
During the 94th Academy Awards ceremony, comedian Chris Rock made an impromptu joke mocking Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss caused by autoimmune alopecia. This in turn caused her husband, Will Smith (a Black man), to slap him and tell him to “keep my wife’s name out your [expletive] mouth.” This singular event sent ripples and shook the world to the point where think piece after think piece was written. Smith was soon suspended from the Academy for ten years due to his outburst and began losing projects or had his projects put on indefinite hold due to this event.
Meanwhile, Ezra Miller, star of the DC cinematic universe, has been embroiled in hot water as, respectively, they have been in the public eye for assault. The difference, the studios and executives still stick by them as they continue their catastrophic ways. Even though Ezra was arrested twice, there has been no comment by Warner Bros. on whether they will recast their upcoming projects featuring their role as The Flash in DC’s series of superhero films or their role in the Fantastic Beasts series.
Before the release of the critically-acclaimed 2021 film adaptation of the West Side Story musical, allegations broke out regarding Ansel Elgort. Caelyn Brooke documented her experience with the actor through a series of posts on Twitter that are now deleted with screenshots of Elgort sexually coercing two other women. Brooke was 17 at the time while Elgort, who she alleges sexually assaulted her was 20. Elgort's latest project is starring and executive producing television series Tokyo Vice on HBO Max.
Screenwriter Kaya Ruan had some choice words surrounding the Will Smith slap. ‘’Comedians have always been in danger of saying the wrong thing and catching the wrong person at a time. The very fact that you literally found a way to piss off the nicest guy in Hollywood is a screaming example of that…”
Even when Black comedians joke about other Black people, you can see how it is mainly to appease white people.
The racist roots of Hollywood run deep and we could be here all day speaking about it. From having to physically hold back John Wayne when Sacheen Littlefeather gave a speech about the mistreatment of Native-Americans at the 1973 Academy Awards ceremony, to white savior movies such as The Blind Side getting eaten up by the members of the Academy even though they are false depictions of history. For Black people in showbiz, they love us when we appease them, but turn their backs once we do something they hate.
