Deadline faces backlash for their racist ‘where are all the white actors?’ article

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I don’t even know what to say about this Deadline article that went viral as soon as it was published yesterday evening. The article is called “Pilots 2015: The Year Of Ethnic Castings – About Time Or Too Much Of Good Thing?” But it could really be called “Where aren’t there more white people on television? WAAAHHHH!!!” You can read the offensively bad article here.

First, some background: several main networks and cable networks began revamping their programming, schedules and diversity casting a few years back. Fox and ABC have had tremendous success with their revamped diversity policies and programming, with hit shows like How To Get Away With Murder (with Viola Davis as the lead), Scandal (Kerry Washington) and Empire (Taraji Henson and the almost entirely black cast). Those hit shows have become a “trend” and now every network head has suddenly realized: OMG, non-white audiences consume TV as well. So the 2015 pilot season is littered with “the next Empire” or “the next Scandal” or “the next Fresh Off the Boat,” etc, complete with a wide-range of ethnically diverse actors and actresses in lead and ensemble roles.

So, what’s the problem? It’s been a long time coming, right? Finally, television programming is starting to look as diverse as America. But not to Deadline. Deadline posits that “the pendulum might have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction.” Seriously. Woe is the white actor.

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. “Basically 50% of the roles in a pilot have to be ethnic, and the mandate goes all the way down to guest parts,” one talent representative said.

In one instance, after a number of actors of different ethnicities tested for two roles in a pilot this year, two Caucasian actors ended up being the top choices for the two remaining regular parts. However, because of a mandate from the studio and network, one of the roles had to diverse, so the pilot could only cast one of the top choices and pass on the other to fulfill the ethnic quota. “They need to say the best man or woman wins,” one rep suggested.

Because of the sudden flood of roles for ethnic actors after years of suppressed opportunities for them, the talent pool of experienced minority performers — especially in the younger range — is pretty limited. That has led to a feeding frenzy, with a number of straight offers locking in ethnic talent before they could be snatched by another pilot.

This is not to say that there weren’t other hot commodities this pilot season; star names were in demand as usual, as were hot young guys and girls and occasional foreigners with that “sparkle.” But the big trend this pilot casting season was the huge spike in the number and prominence of roles that went to minority actors.

[From Deadline]

Part of me thinks it’s sad that people are fighting about this because the white power structure that controls so much of Hollywood film and television still believes that “ethnic programming” is just a trend and they’re just trying to ride the wave. But I’m sure there are people within Hollywood’s overwhelming white power structure who are genuinely upset that in the 2015 pilot season, white actors are only being cast, like, most the time. When it used to be 95% of the time! Anyway, Pajiba had a great summary on the backlash to the “Whitelash” against minority casting decisions – go here to see.

Dear White Actors: At least you still have HBO, Showtime, Netflix, more than half of all cable and standard networks and, oh right, like 98% of the leads in all films. Woe is the white actor, y’all. Won’t anyone think about Bradley Cooper?!

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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103 Responses to “Deadline faces backlash for their racist ‘where are all the white actors?’ article”

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  1. bettyrose says:

    I don’t even know what Deadline is, but nothing screams fear of irrelevancy louder than the war chant “equality has gone too far….”

    • Sixer says:

      I know, right? You made me laugh out loud. “Equality has gone too far”. How can that even be?! It’s just so “oops, what a giveaway”.

      It’s nothing more than ethnic fashion! It’ll be the death of true art! True quality!

      The fabric of society is crumbling around our pasty white panic!

    • Kitten says:

      It’s an entertainment industry magazine (website).

      That article is so stupid, but the comment section gives me hope.

      I’m angry that this was written by a woman. Shame on her.

      • Kiddo says:

        Hey O’Kitt, I was thinking about you this AM, when I read an article on Salon that was beyond stupid. No, not the stupid part in re to you, but the Dick Dynasty guy wants to rape children and decapitate parents who are atheists because atheists do not know right or wrong (and someone else apparently has attention needs that aren’t being met).

      • Kitten says:

        WTF.
        I’d be offended if I wasn’t certain that the DD guy is completely batsh*t crazy.

        It’s atheists we have to worry about, not the guy advocating for the rape of children and murder of their parents.

      • Kiddo says:

        The scary thing is that his trolling may be taken to heart by some deranged fanatical moron.

      • V4Real says:

        Since this crap was written by a woman I just want to say three of the main shows she’s talking about are spearheaded by Black women. That must really grate on her nerves.

      • TheOnlyDee says:

        Oh jeez, I just read that Salon article. Is Duck Dynasty even popular anymore? Does that guy seriously think Atheists don’t believe in right and wrong and that they don’t believe people have to atone for their wrong doings?

      • MC2 says:

        That dd guy needs to have a talk with his god & then crawl in a hole. My husband is an atheist & a wonderful man. He says that he does the right thing (doesn’t lie, etc) because it’s the right thing to do not because there is an entity looking over him.

      • Shijel says:

        Lesson learned. Women can be just as closed-minded and crappy as men. Because shittiness is a human trait and being socially at a disadvantage doesn’t make you more virtuous by default.

    • M.A.F. says:

      Deadline used to be a really good entertainment website that dealt mostly with the business side of Hollywood (think Hollywood Reporter) but a few years ago one of the main writers (or was it whatever you call the head of a website?) left and it has just gone down hill from there. Hence, this article.

      • Bridget says:

        Really? Nikke Finke was famous for being an incredible bully with her website. It’s not great now, but that doesn’t mean that it would be producing quality material if she were leading it, there would just be more name calling.

    • Adrien says:

      It was founded by vile blogger Nikki Finke. Finke pirated the author of that article Nellie Andreeva from Hollywood Reporter.

    • MCraw says:

      They should have that mandate behind the camera as well. Casts are more diverse than crews now.

    • Anne tommy says:

      second that Bettyrose, it’s the same nonsense one hears about poor disadvantaged men being swept aside by the mythical horde of bra-less butch, man-hating feminists.

      • bettyrose says:

        Yep. As long as any privileged group feels entitled to comment on the rights of others, the’re’s still work to be done.

    • The Other Pinky says:

      Deadline is still the site of choice for most industry players. It’s where they get their dish from, remember the Sony emails and how it was clear all the senior managers were reading Deadline.

      If this appeared on some random site, I would be angry but not super concerned. On Deadline, it either means that there’s a significant bunch in the industry who hold this mentality or the writer is deliberately attempting to create this “woe is me” attitude among the sheep (those guys are stoopid) that run the industry.

  2. Tiffany27 says:

    Is this serious? Like, are they serious? What the f*ck????

    • wolfpup says:

      Why is it such a challenge to understand that people enjoy watching *interesting* people that reflect our real life? Perhaps we need writers that can reflect the current state of racism, so our nation can reflect on that!

  3. Kiddo says:

    Trolling for page-views? Did Rush Limbaugh write this shite?

    • Kitten says:

      It really does feel like trolling in the sense that it is so offensively out-of-touch. You have to wonder if she’s really this ignorant, or just looking for some clicks.

      Then again, her argument sort of reads like the argument against affirmative action, and as we all know, there’s a huge segment of the population that are against that so….

      • Kiddo says:

        I think it genuinely appeals to the lowest common denominator of dog whistle responders, but it’s so absurd, it makes me ask, is this for real? It just seems more like trolling, for sensationalism, when posed the way it was. Also, it seems like an intentional prod to activate the outrage machine. KWIM?

      • Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

        This article drips with the notion that some white people have that they are naturally more qualified for everything and if a white person doesn’t land a position in any situation it’s because of quotas, white guilt, Affirmative Action, Political Correctness, reverse racism or any of the terms they use to fog their entitlement, arch delusions of superiority and craven selfishness. Maybe the website was in pursuit of some kind of white quota when they let this silly woman publish this drivel.

        She believes that the only people who watch these ‘special interest’ programs are members of that group, which says more about her unwillingness than people’s viewing habits. If anything, her line of thinking illustrates that minority viewers are far more open-minded than white ones if minorities will watch things for more reasons than, ‘because everyone looks like me’. It seems that this author has one criterion dictating her patronage: it must be white people, exclusively. That makes her a really crap television writer, but one whose deficiencies never needed to be confronted before now.

        2014: 95% of network shows and 90% of cable shows boasted white lead characters but that’s not enough for her. Well, she can marinate in her self-absorption for all I care because I doubt she would have these problems with this kind of slight increase of female-driven projects. It’s like nature: on must evolve or die and if she can’t adjust her mind, grow the hell up, and stop acting like the world is in some kind of revolt Her Highness, who is owed everything, always and forever and minorities should be happy for the privilege of complete negation so the ‘natural order’ of everyone serving her in perpetuity continues to thrive, someone competent who exists in reality will replace her whining. So tired of these ‘post-racial’ tantrums, go watch Seinfeld and let the adults live in peace. I suspect that there will always be room for the downtrodden white people at the table, so clam up, Princess Oh, Shut Up.

    • taterho says:

      This. So much this. I’m still laughing too hard at the article to be infuriated.

    • Sixer says:

      The thing is, I’m all for colour-blind casting as the ultimate goal. Black woman playing Elizabeth Bennet? Why not? Indian child play Oliver Twist? Why not? (‘Scuse the Britisher examples). But the simple matter of fact is that we’re so far from that, it’s little more than a pipe dream at the moment. Any trend in show type, any casting, preferential or otherwise, that moves us along a bit is just not a threat in any way; it’s A Good Thing.

  4. Kaley says:

    I’m in Wisconsin and it’s been snowing like hell here the last few days, but there are very small patches of grass peaking through due to the weather being warm enough in the afternoons to melt some of the snow.

    This is like me walking outside, spying some of those tiny grass patches and shrieking WHERE IS ALL THE SNOW!?

    How idiotic.

  5. BeBeA says:

    I tell you what, some people really have perfected the art of stupid! I am amazed, but not surprised, and now I am uninterested!

  6. tifzlan says:

    Where is the white actor? Are they actually serious with this article? The white actor has been around since the beginning of show business. It has been DECADES of the white actor playing every character under the sun. And 5 shows (that i can think of off the top of my head) having predominantly non-white casts is still not enough when you think of all the other shows that still place non-white actors in bit parts or parts that are so heavily stereotypical. Who wrote this article?!

    • Norman Bates' Mother says:

      Exactly. It was just a few decades ago when Laurence Olivier played Othello in black-face and every Native American role was played by a slightly tanned Italian or German actors but saying no to a handful of white actors and hiring black ones instead in 2015 is simply outrageous and worthy of an entire article…

      • FingerBinger says:

        John Wayne as Genghis Khan. David Carradine as a mixed Asian shaolin monk.

      • Kiddo says:

        @FingerBinger, That’s pathetically hilarious: John Wayne as Genghis Khan.

      • TheOnlyDee says:

        Don’t forget Mickey Rourke as Holly’s landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Seriously, decades removed it is so natural for us to wonder “what the hell were they thinking??”, but back then, it seemed perfectly fine.

      • jen2 says:

        Let’s not forget Mickey Rooney as one of the most racist characters in history in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But John Wayne as Genghis Kahn was just funny. I remember seeing a movie from the fifties with Jeffery Hunter playing a Native American and he has rather bright blue eyes. Not fooling anyone, even with the “red face” make-up. Those westerns were embarrassing.

        Some of the comments on Deadline and Hollywood Reporter are vile. Apparently, they are linked to the drudge report and they make sure to comment on articles like this. It was pretty rampant when Finke had it and it was worse then. Deadline was not that great when she was there and now it is not much better. The woman who wrote this article and some of the other writers are basically out of touch especially as far as issues pertaining to women and people of color.

      • tifzlan says:

        Yup, these are all great examples. We don’t even have to go too far back. The Twilight franchise cast one Native American actor to play a part in the Native American storyline – everyone else was Hispanic.

      • md1979 says:

        Not to mention Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in Peter Pan.

  7. Pinky says:

    Wha—? Bwahahahaha! Cry me river. Sounds like someone’s going to be crying about “reverse racism” and their own need for affirmative action now. Those poor reps, I’m sure bemoaning on the condition of anonymity, are sad for the fate of America. I’d better leave this thread before it gets ugly. But thanks for posting this! I’m off to wreak havoc on the rest of the Internet for this article now….

    ETA: Christ! I just read the article and it’s worse than I thought! They’re kind of advocating segregation among the casts of shows and their own backwards quota of “not taking roles away” from white people, as though awarding it to someone non-white is stripping it from someone more deserving (and pale). Watch out, Internet, here I come!

  8. Sarah says:

    One of the things I hate is when a person of color is cast that a show is considered “ethnic.” How to Get Away With Murder is ethnic? Scandal is ethnic? I’ll give you Empire, but it is also extremely popular and I am sure there are more than people of color who watch it. I haven’t gotten into it yet, but that’s because I overwatch already. LOL! But seriously – just because the lead is a person of color a show is automatically termed “ethnic?” That I just don’t get. They are good shows. Period. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be on the air.

    • tifzlan says:

      I totally agree. What’s “ethnic” about a law professor? A person working at the White House? I don’t watch any of these shows because i just couldn’t get into them (+yes, i’m overwatching as well) but there’s nothing ethnic about any of them.

    • TheOnlyDee says:

      Agreed. Olivia and Annaliese’s race have nothing to do with the story line!

    • Kori says:

      Really. The cast is multicultural in its cast not its not an ethnic show. It has a black woman (married to a white man), 2 black law students, 1 Hispanic one, 2 white ones. Both her assistants are white. And so was the role of Rebecca. So of the 10 major roles on it this season, 6 were white and 4 were people of color. It’s called diversity.

  9. Franca says:

    Non-white audiences consume TV aswell, and white audiences consume programmes with “ethnic” actors.
    At least in my country. People don’t really care which colour the actors are.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      “and white audiences consume programmes with “ethnic” actors.”

      THIS!!!!

      I think there was a miscalculation for a long time that minority audiences would watch whites in TV and film, but the powers that be thought that white audiences wouldn’t do the same and watch shows with minorities as the main characters. (aka whites needed to see themselves, but minorities were used to not seeing themselves represented in the shows they supported).

      Finally, it seems that the American TV audience is giving execs a big old bitch slap of reality and showing that white viewers will tune in to watch entertaining programs, no matter the race(s) of the main characters.

      • Kori says:

        Exactly. These shows are popular because they are well cast and entertaining as hell. If you build it they will come.

  10. OhDear says:

    I’m sure whoever wrote that article has a non-white friend, lol.

    I mean for f-k’s sake. They whitewash roles all the time (for example, apparently they’re thinking of casting a white person to play *Bruce Lee*), but once “ethnic” people get roles, it’s not fair, NOT FAIR damn it.

    • Kiddo says:

      Yes, and those people also believe that there aren’t enough whites cast in shows, and they are entitled to their opinions. ! FREE SPEECH !! lolz.

  11. Birdie says:

    The South Park episode comes to mind where Cartman is shocked that so many minorities are in the Water Park with him and Kyle points out that makes him the minority now. The thought about that freaked him out and Deadline.. well you are Cartman.

  12. QQ says:

    bwahahaha SOMEONE APPROVED THE PUBLISHING OF THESE WHITE TEARS FOR SERIOUS??!!!!

    OMFG OMFG this is galling this on the same #OscarsSoWWhite year ffs

  13. mazzie says:

    Goddamn, Deadline. I’ll just get back in my little ethnic corner, ok?

  14. karen says:

    …viola looking absolutely fantastic…

  15. belle de jour says:

    Another aspect that catches my eye is the classic ‘fact’-peddling deflector device the ‘reporter’ inserts: notice the “some agents signal” and “one talent representative said” and “one rep suggested” that distance the writer’s own bias – and perhaps agenda – from the rest of the copy.

    The tack: hey, she’s just reporting what she’s heard and what’s going on, folks. Don’t blame her (or her pub) for telling the truth and bringing real new issues like institutional racism against caucasian actors to the table.

    A lot of people both in and covering the industry are so jaded that they do communicate amongst themselves like this without batting an eye – or being pricked with so much as a toothpick of conscience.

  16. AlmondJoy says:

    The writer of this article is an embarrassment. And yet, we have posters claiming almost every single day that people are looking for racism when it really isn’t there. Newsflash: we get daily reports that racism is pretty much everywhere.

  17. sali says:

    Where is Common to comment?

  18. Observer says:

    So is this how it’s going to be now? Trolling for clicks? Like we don’t get enough of that on regular news sites already, sigh.

  19. Lady L says:

    “white power structure” (((eye roll))

  20. Kath says:

    Oh, FFS. As a lily-white, fluorescently pale person, I find it nothing but refreshing to see TV and film actually start to reflect real life. Part of the appeal of a show like OITNB is getting to relate to people who aren’t all Anglo ex-models with bad nose jobs. Go Tastee!

  21. ToodySezHey says:

    Someone in the OG article comments section made a good point. Basically saying that reason for the sudden diversity in network tv is that young white viewers mainly watch cable or streaming leaving advertisers with old white consumers (which they don’t want) and young minority viewers (which they do want) hence the diversification of broadcast tv.

    It’s about the dollars.

    • word says:

      Young minority viewers also watch cable or streaming as well. So that point doesn’t make sense. Minorities can afford cable you know.

      I for one, think it’s nice to finally see more ethnicities on TV. However, I would like to point out I grew up watching The Jeffersons, Good Times, The Cosby Show, and Sanford and Son. Sometime in the late 90’s things changed and TV went back to being more “White”. Now it’s changing back to being what it was in the 80’s. This time however, other ethnicities are being given a shot. Love Mindy Project and Fresh off the Boat. Good shows ! Can’t wait to see even more diversity.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        LOL…I was reading your post and I had to do a double take because I love The Mindy Project, but while watching it I don’t think of it as a “ethnic” show, I just see it as a fun show about a kickass woman. That realization kind of made me happy. 🙂

      • word says:

        Yeah I know. I didn’t call her show an “ethnic” show. I said other “ethnicities” are finally being given some air time. I just see it as a good show, the same way I see Empire as a good show. But I was just trying to say how happy I am to finally see an Indian woman as the lead on a hit TV show. The world is not just black and white, there are many others who should be included on TV. It’s about time !

      • Tiffany :) says:

        I wasn’t suggesting that you called it an “ethnic show”. What I meant was that is probably how it would be categorized by executives etc., and that is silly. The audience doesn’t see it that way.

        An ideal world would have us just seeing other people as other people, not as a category. I think your and my reactions to The Mindy Project show that our society is getting there.

      • word says:

        Oh ok. Yeah as soon as you put a non-white actor/actress as the lead, it’s automatically called an “ethnic show”. How dumb right?

        Yes, let’s hope the world is getting there !

  22. Amy Tennant says:

    Seriously, freakin’ SERIOUSLY?? OMG my head exploded be back later when I can form a complete sentence instead of spluttering

  23. lucy2 says:

    That is such utter crap! TV casting has gotten more diverse, which is a great thing, but there are still WAAAY more white actors getting the big roles.
    I just looked at a list of 30+ new 2015 shows, network, cable, and streaming. The lead roles? Probably 90% white. Overall casts? Probably 70-80% white. Numbers don’t lie, Deadline.

    • FingerBinger says:

      What’s interesting is that there was more diversity in the 90s than there is now. Martin ,living single ,all american girl ,New York undercover. If this article was written 20 years the author might have a point ,but not in 2015.

  24. qwerty says:

    ” “Basically 50% of the roles in a pilot have to be ethnic, and the mandate goes all the way down to guest parts,””

    THE HORROR!!1!!111!

    • lucy2 says:

      I know, right? Plus if you look at shows that are coming out now or soon, as I said above, there is no way anyone is holding to that “mandate”. I suspect it was maybe the one situation where the network wanted a non-white person for one of the 2 leads, and it’s spiraled into people freaking out and acting like it’s happening for every role out there. Which even if it was, so what? Why shouldn’t shows try to better reflect the population, and give actors of all races a chance?

  25. Jess says:

    So awful. I used to love Deadline when it was Nikki Finke’s blog but ever since she sold it the website has gone downhill. And now it’s just become offensive. First it whined about an all-female Ghostbusters reboot and now it’s whining about actors of color finally getting a decent chance (at least on TV). It’s now officially offensive, pathetic, and irrelevant.

  26. Lucy says:

    Good.

  27. Saks says:

    I hate they describe the characters as “ethnic” some of those roles have nothing to do with race or their skin color (like Viola’s), and that’s the beauty about it, because they are showing the diversity of the US society without the stereotypical characteristics of someone of a certain color.

    For example, as a Mexican I love the fact that Laurel’s character in HTGAWM doesn’t look or is portrayed as the typical daughter of immigrants. She actually is more like any citygirl from Latin America. And even though her character is a supporting one, that series is very successful in my country because the actress is Mexican. Anyway the article is just stupid…

  28. Jaded says:

    So Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva is actually whining about the paucity of white actors on TV and that the playing field needs to be brought back to a 1:1 ratio…..why on earth did they publish this dreck, so quick on the heels of the most embarrassingly white Oscar season ever???

    It’s a vile and stupid article which hints not too subtly that black actors aren’t getting these roles on merit and talent. What next Nellie? Hiring black actors and making them up to look white to correct the colour imbalance? You’re an imbecile.

  29. Katija says:

    I guess if we lived in a world where every single show was like “Empire” and every single time you turned on your TV you saw exclusively black people and no Latinos, Asians, or Caucasians, then yes, we’d have a problem, I suppose.

    But “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder” aren’t “black” shows and to call them “black” shows is gross. A show doesn’t became “black” because it has a black lead. I’ve only seen both in bits and pieces, but from what I gathered, it was a black woman surrounded by white and possibly a few Latin people on both programs. Isn’t Kerry Washington with almost exclusively white men on “Scandal?” Not a “black show.” Having one prominent actor of color doesn’t change a damn thing about the appeal of the show. Both of these shows could work if you swapped out the lead for a white or Latina woman; hence, since their “blackness” doesn’t really affect the plot, I’d say that they’re just diverse shows anyone can enjoy that HAPPEN to have women of color in prominent roles. And… shouldn’t that be the goal? Colorblind casting? Deadline is lamenting when it should be celebrating. “The Walking Dead” is a good example of a show that is straight-up colorblind. The cast is so freaking diverse, and yet the show is so damn good that I just plain forget it and watch them as people. “Orange is the New Black” is similar, although race is brought up so you don’t really “forget” about it… still a great diverse cast, though.

    And Girls, Pretty Little Liars, everything on the CW, Revenge, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, House of Cards… chill, Deadline. You can get your white people fix pretty damn easily.

    • Kori says:

      Walking Dead does get called out all the time for killing off its black men all the time though. It’s become a social media joke that when they bring on a new black man, the current ones should think oh shit. They had a high of 4 the beginning of the season and are down to one as they enter the finale. Those are 4 of the 5 major deaths. But overall it has a good representation. 7 majors are white but they do have 2 female black bad assess and one Hispanic female. And one Asian male. And we should have Morgan (Lennie James!) entering soon. WD used to get criticized for their portrayal of weak women but now the women–Michonne, Carol, Sasha and even Rosita (we don’t see her as much)–are serious ass kickers.

      • tifzlan says:

        Hopefully Little Ass Kicker will grow up and join the ranks of the other ass kicking women on the show!

        But yeah, TWD’s treatment of black male characters is a freaking joke. Not a few episodes after Tyreese was killed, Noah went too. It’s infuriating because they kill of the good characters too! Like, Noah going over useless Father Gabriel? I will say though that Michonne is my favorite character in the show, because she’s so strong and powerful, and you rarely see that being done on tv. It’s always a stereotype of the angry black woman and i’m glad that TWD didn’t go down that route. I’d say at this point, Michonne is probably more capable of leading than Rick is.

  30. anne_000 says:

    The Deadline writer lists an example of how one of two white actors for a particular project was recast to include a non-white actor.

    How does this writer know what the casting director/producers/directors were thinking or what their perspectives were when choosing both parts to be white? Was it based on the financial worries that maybe they thought their audience would be mostly white? Did they bring in their own racial preference into play? Were they just too comfortable in traditionally choosing white actors in their own work history? There are just so many reasons why certain people pick certain other people over and over again without stepping out of their mindset and exploring other options and it’s not always about the quality of the actors.

    And how does the writer know that the replacement actor (a person of color) wasn’t as good as the white actor? ‘Different’ does not necessarily mean ‘worse’ or ‘less than.’

    This writer makes it sound like the entertainment industry is just picking any person of color due to the finite numbers of such actors. Her not acknowledging that actors of color may have equal or better talent than white actors is denigrating actors of color on the whole.

  31. Feebee says:

    Can I just add to the “OMG non-white audiences consume TV too” that “OMG, white audiences like diversity in TV too”.

  32. belle de jour says:

    Was just forwarded a very funny twitter reaction:

    “Next Deadline article topic: ‘Enough with the funny Jews already!’ “

  33. Ana says:

    I feel like THIS comment on the article is far more racist than the article itself. Having roles rewritten as “ethnic” only for the sake to fill a quota, no matter if the actors available are the best for the part or not, is a damaging practice, and if it was the other way around (“ethnic” roles rewritten as white) there would be an uproar. Typical double standards. Also, shows like Empire are not succesful because they have a black casting, they are succesful because they are good. This mentality suggests that black people will only see black shows and white people will only see white shows, which is ridiculous.

    • Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

      The ONLY people who have brought up quotas are white people who feel that they need to explain to the world that they’re just better and the only way that minorities could achieve something is due to some vast anti-white conspiracy. It’s childish, selfish and untrue and if they feel slighted by the lie they’ve told themselves I’m not crying over it.

      • Ana says:

        We are talking about a specific practice in a specific industry here. While I don’t agree with most of Andreeva’s focus, she’s a good reporter with a lot of sources in the business. I doubt this is just a concern of hers, but one from the creators, who want freedom to be able to cast whomever they think is better for a role. Way back, they were forced to only hire pretty, caucasian actors, and that was wrong. Forcing them to rewrite characters to fill a quota to draw in ratings is just as wrong. Look at the use of the word ethnic, for crying out loud. It’s like they are saying that people who are not white are a rarity, exotic, let’s put some of them in there so everyone is happy. Roles should be filled with talented people of all ages, colors and backgrounds, that’s true diversity. Not vetoing people for their ethnicity, whether it’s black or white.

  34. Shannon says:

    Meh. Maybe it’s the ‘old’ in me, but I can’t bring myself to care much one way or the other. This is about highly paid actors, and do they all work hard? I’m sure they do. But it’s not about people struggling to feed their families – I can’t care too much about it. Acting is a profession that is largely based on, “do they think you fit the role.” Is it always fair? Probably not, but that’s the nature of the beast, regardless of race.

  35. Nina says:

    Jeez, Americans can relate with all sorts of non-human characters in film and television – aliens, robots, mutants, dogs, vampires, elves, cats – but as soon as a non-white human shows up in a lead role, the bigots whine about how they can’t identify with someone who doesn’t look like them.

  36. Itsa Reallyme says:

    I just want to watch great programming with great actors. I couldn’t possibly care less what color, shape, size or religion that person happens to be. Just entertain me!