With race relations continuing to be a sensitive and volatile topic, one must be cautious of the content they put out there. Case in point, Shonda Rhimes’ latest beef with a controversial Deadline column, “Pilots 2015: The Year of Ethnic Castings — About Time or Too Much of Good Thing?” On Tuesday, the Golden Globe winner was outraged by columnist Nellie Andreeva’s argument that TV casting has become too ethnically diverse.
“1st Reaction: HELL NO. Lemme take off my earrings, somebody hold my purse!” Rhimes tweeted. “2nd Reaction: Article is so ignorant I can’t even be bothered.”
In just seven hours, Rhimes’ tweet was favorited 1,110 times in addition to being retweeted 751 times.
In Andreeva’s article, which was published Tuesday, she wrote, “Instead of opening the field for actors of any race to compete for any role in a color-blind manner, there has been a significant number of parts designated as ethnic this year, making them off-limits for Caucasian actors, some agents signal. Many pilot characters this year were listed as open to all ethnicities, but when reps would call to inquire about an actor submission, they frequently have been told that only non-Caucasian actors would be considered.”
Andreena added insult to injury when she noted that African Americans “represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population. They were grossly underserved, but now, with shows as “Empire,” “black-ish,” “Scandal” and “HTGAWM” on broadcast, Tyler Perry’s fare on OWN and Mara Brock Akil’s series on BET, they have scripted choices, so the growth in that fraction of the TV audience might have reached its peak.”
But Rhimes was not alone in her disgust for the article, celebrities like Eric Haywood and more weighed in on Andreena’s column. Hit the flip to see what they had to say.
