On Tuesday, Deadline published an article that asked if too many roles were going to people of color.
As is the case with any sea change, the pendulum might have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction. 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.
Shonda Rhimes was quick to react.
1st Reaction:: HELL NO. Lemme take off my earrings, somebody hold my purse! 2nd Reaction: Article is so ignorant I can't even be bothered.
And the rest of Hollywood soon followed.
Did the Deadline article say anything about whether or not Chappie was black?
Deadline be cray.
Deadline has an article that is literally "More roles for minority actors in TV... BUT WHAT ABOUT THE WHITE ACTORS!?" Great job, everyone.
Many responded with sharp witty tweets.
Congrats to @Deadline for their article I Just Have A Bad Feeling About Those Two New Black Families In Town. http://t.co/D8K1WAIIub
Tomorrow on Deadline Hollywood: "Enough Funny Jews, Already!"
Deadline: "Are women TOO funny?"
But for some, it hit too close to home.
The joke amongst POC is that our pilot season doesn't even START until April, when all the other lead roles have been filled.
Others pointed out the "poor white people" tone of the article.
I guess white actors will have to resign themselves to the vast majority of roles in most network and cable shows. http://t.co/Tfzl5xBgUB
Morning! In case you're wondering about that Deadline "article", here's the jist of it, in pic form:
Some were shocked.
LOLOLwhut??? http://t.co/QspXGdBDPN
.@Deadline you should be ashamed of yourself.
Some were just disappointed.
Hey look the grossest possible reaction to a breakthrough TV year: http://t.co/uwWvnQF8Jb
Haha, liberal HollyWEIRD at work!!!!!!!!!!!! (This is article is an enormous embarrassment) http://t.co/aJg0wvWjn6
And others reminded us of the real problem with the article.
What troubles me is the decision-makers in Hollywood who will read that @Deadline tripe about black actors in television and say, "Exactly."
Asians are fastest growing racial group in US. Latinos are largest minority group. Yet @Deadline says...
BuzzFeed has reached out to the article's author Nellie Andreeva and is awaiting response.
Update:
Deadline posted this tweet:
Did "ethnic" casting go too far in pilot season? @DeadlineNellie stirred up a hornet's nest. http://t.co/0QfF8nUJ2L
Along with these retweets:
MT @shondarhimes:1st Reaction: HELL NO. Lemme take off earrings, somebody hold my purse! 2nd Reaction: It's so ignorant I can't be bothered.
RT @AizzahFatima: It's pretty ridiculous to say ethnic casting is too much of a good thing: http://t.co/Vrz6X6lKlo @Deadline #actorslife
MT @AaronTheH: .@Deadline pretending to be "fair" by retweeting opinions agains awful article. Yet each retweet links to article...
Still, there has yet to be any comment from the publication or writer about the story.