I never watched Heroes when it was on NBC. It debuted in 2006, and it was a popular show for a time. It made stars out several cast members, including Hayden Panettiere, Milo Ventimiglia and Zachary Quinto. The show also unheroically dispatched (fired) many of the actors of color from the show in the first few seasons. Leonard Roberts was one of those actors of color. He played DL Hawkins, who was married to Ali Larter’s character. Roberts wrote an essay for Variety where he told his story of how he came to be fired from the network show, and it was basically because Ali Larter is a racist a–hole. You can read the full piece here. Some excerpts:
His character was supposed to be introduced in the pilot. After the show was picked up to series, I learned my character had been removed from the pilot and would be introduced in the second episode. I briefly wondered if Black folks in the TV game suffered the same fate as our counterparts in pre-Jordan Peele horror films, and were the first to go upon a new show’s pickup.
The show didn’t know what to do with the black characters: I learned that despite the show’s three Black series regulars, there were no Black writers on staff. After a particularly odd promotional photoshoot — in which all the Black adult series regulars were relegated to the back and sides of photo after photo because, we were told, we were “tall” — I was approached by Tim Kring, the creator of the show. He told me my character would not be introduced in the second episode, but that great ideas were on the way. I sat on the sidelines for the second, third, fourth and fifth episodes. Finally, I was excited to learn that Episode 6 would mark my debut.
Enter Ali Larter: Episode 6 began filming in August 2006. D.L. Hawkins was in an interracial marriage with Niki Sanders, a white woman played by Ali Larter. The script suggested D.L. and Niki had a volatile relationship — and it wasn’t long before art was imitating life, with me on the receiving end of pushback from my co-star regarding the playing of a particularly tense scene. Coming from theater, I was familiar with passions running high in the process of bringing characters to life, so I later gave her a bottle of wine with a note affirming what I believed to be mutual respect and a shared commitment to doing exceptional work. Neither the gift nor the note was ever acknowledged.
Ali Larter took issue with a scene involving intimacy: On another occasion, during the staging of a bedroom scene, my co-star took umbrage with the level of intimacy being suggested between our characters. In a private rehearsal, Greg Beeman, our director, asked if she was willing to lower the straps of the top she was wearing and expose her bare shoulders only above the sheet that covered her, in order to give the visual impression she was in the same state of undress as me, as I was shirtless. My co-star refused Beeman’s request, and I was instantly aware of the tension on the set. I remember instinctively checking to make sure both my hands were visible to everyone who was there, as not to have my intentions or actions misconstrued. Despite Beeman’s clear description of what he was looking for visually, my co-star insisted she was, indeed, being asked to remove her top completely, and rehearsal was cut. She then demanded a meeting with Beeman and the producers who were on set and proceeded to have an intense and loud conversation in which she expressed she had never been so disrespected — as an actress, a woman or a human being.
She was fine with doing intimate scenes with Adrian Pasdar: While that was my first episode, my co-star had been working on “Heroes” for over a month, and she’d shot another scene that called for Niki to seduce Nathan Petrelli, played by Adrian Pasdar. After watching the episode, I asked Pasdar if there had been any concerns similar to what I witnessed during my episode. He replied to the contrary, and mentioned her openness to collaboration and even improvisation. I pondered why my co-star had exuberantly played a different scene with the Petrelli character involving overt sexuality while wearing lingerie, but found aspects of one involving love and intimacy expressed through dialogue with my character, her husband, disrespectful to her core. I couldn’t help wondering whether race was a factor.
Roberts goes on to describe the promises he had from producers and the showrunner that his job was secure for the second season, only to have the rug pulled out from under him at the last minute. Before he was fired, they also wrote off the other two black characters, so he had a sense of what was coming. When he was fired, he was offered a sit-down meeting with producers and he took them up on their offer. They basically blamed his firing on “the Ali Larter situation” and claimed that they couldn’t figure out a way to include his character in the show if Larter didn’t like him, to which he suggested that the two characters could simply get a divorce. They did not take him up on that storyline, obvs.
While he clearly does not like Ali Larter, he’s laying the blame on the entire debacle at the feet at the white dudes behind the scenes, and I agree. Ali Larter being a racist pill is one thing – the dudes with power didn’t have to cave to her asinine tantrums.
Hours after Roberts’ piece came out in Variety, Ali Larter issued a statement to TV Line, saying: “I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts’ experience on Heroes and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn’t match my memory nor experience on the show. I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform. I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best.” Gaslighting 101.
Photos courtesy of Getty, NBC/’Heroes’.
I read it yesterday, and was sure he was telling it like it happened. When she released that heartbroken statement, that really was the nail in her coffin. Right away she made it about her, and her heartbreak, and I suspect we were supposed to picture her crying as she read his interview. She’s vile. She better be over.
Her response feels like gaslighting for sure. That sealed it for me.
Yup. Also, I can’t stand “apologies” that include phrasing like “I don’t remember it that way, but I’m sorry.”
Hopefully she gets tossed off the Rookie. There r a lot of POC working on that show and hopefully they all want her gone.
I doubt it. The Rookie has its own racial problems. The actress who played the chief alleges she was discriminated against by the writers.
Oh that’s right! I don’t watch The Rookie but I did read about that. Well there you go.
The situation with The Rookie was so depressing. I really like the show and remember thinking when I watched it what a good job they did with a multicultural cast that actually looked like what a big city police force would look like. There were two white men, two black men (one the Sgt), a black woman, an Asian woman, two Hispanic women (one the Chief). So there were four men, four women and 3/4 were POC and 1/2 of them were in positions of authority—only one white make was. And the behind the scenes info came out and that affected a real person, not a character.
I have learned that, almost without exception, if a Black person feels they are the target of discrimination, even if it’s “just” a micro-aggression, BELIEVE THEM.
I DO NOT DOUBT FOR A SECOND that Larter’s “discomfort” was because she’s a racist POS.
Her character also did a ton of seducing or overtly sexual items behaviors. Did she ever complain about those scenes? Or just this instance?
I think many people are not aware of their racism until it’s compared to a situation where only race changes. And they can excuse away a lot by claiming they didn’t mean for someone to interpret their racist acts as racism.
Ugh, Larter’s “apology” just reinforces that what he said is very likely true. “I’m sorry about your perception,” JFC.
I agree. If someone accuses you of being racist, you would be eager to say that you’re not racist. She couldn’t even say that.
Seriously? Because that ever works well? How many times did Trump say he wasn’t a racist? Did anyone who finds him problematic ever say afterwards “oh, he denied it, so he must not be racist”?
@Larisa Someone’s response matters. Even if she (obviously) doesn’t see her behavior as problematic, an appropriate response would have been something along the lines of “Leonard Roberts’ comments have caused me to reevaluate my conduct at the time” or something. Not just “his perception was wrong”.
And Donald Trump is a very low bar. I’m honestly not even sure how he’s relevant to this conversation. Nobody believes him because he’s a blatant, racist liar who lies. Are we comparing every racist to him now or something?
Since the characters had a volatile relationship, we don’t know what Ali faced as well so it seems odd to judge her so harshly.
The judgement seems warranted. No one is even denying the story, so fuck her and the Karen bus she rode in on.
What you said.
This 💯
And don’t forget, this is coming from the same address that wore only a whipped cream bikini that covered her nipples and crotch on Varsity Blues…
I was concerned by his description of her upset about taking her straps down. She’s clearly problematic AF, but that bothered me.
His antidote is too easy to misinterpret because the line about the straps solidifies they were both the actors/hired help working for the big boys.
He wasn’t bothered by that until he heard how comfortable and collaborative Ali was filming a similar scene with a White guy.
Khia, typically actors filming volatile scenes together collaborate even more on the setup to ensure no one is uncomfortable. Ali completely shut Leonard out and only complained to the directors.
That bothered me as well, I’m not good with producers or whoever pressuring any actor to reveal more than they are comfortable with, or had already agreed upon.
But her behavior beyond that incident was not good either.
I think that overall context is important to acknowledge here, and it is not in her or the producers favour. If the only thing was the love scene issue and him saying “yeah we didn’t get along”, and nothing else? Yes I’d be leery because there’s a long not-so-proud history of actresses being made uncomfortable and taken advantage of.
But that’s not the only thing being related. Not by a long shot. And she was literally referenced as the reason he lost his job through no alleged fault on his part. I mean…come on.
@Aurora
except we don’t know how collaborative she actually was. He asked another dude what he thought. The dude could have lied to protect his own ego or exaggerated or any number of things. Yet he took it and ran with it as all the proof he needs.
Pulling down straps is NOT a request to bare boobs. This was afterall a network show. She was being asked to create the illusion of toplessness, most likely under a sheet. This. Was. A. Network. Show!
What does this mean? What does the relationship the characters had have to do with Leonard’s description of his on-set experiences? I’m really lost here.
It means, as an actor even he says there are strong emotions and the characters they played were already at odds if ‘volatile’. Being on a set, emotions running high and removing clothing, etc sounds like the situation was uncomfortable for both of them.
Tell it to Nicole Kidman and Alexander Skarsgard.
At 7:52 am I’m still wandering around in my pajamas and here’s Darla delivering the one two Kidman Skarsgard winning punch. I’m just spectator this morning cheering you ladies on!
@Darla
so because 1 on-screen couple handled it well (I presume? I don’t know anything about the Kidman-Skarsgard dynamic on set, but your comment seems to suggest it?), every couple ever must now do the same or else they are bad people?
The only part I’m judging her so harshly on is her behavior during the love scene with a black man vs a white man. That makes it very clear.
Nah. She cried her white woman tears and then used her righteous indignation to talk about how she’d been disrespected as an actor and woman because they wanted to imply the married couple were both willingly undressed in the process of making love. Don’t let her weaponized blondness fool you. That’s what this whole BLM movement is about–weaponizing whiteness and demonizing black men (and women), making all spaces unsafe spaces for POC. Do better.
“Don’t let her weaponized blondness fool you.”–I’m applauding and really wish I had someone like you at my work.
This this this! @ThatsNotOkay “cried her white woman tears and then used her righteous indignation to talk about how she’d been disrespected as an actor and woman because they wanted to imply the married couple were both willingly undressed in the process of making love” Everything you said is completely on point. Thank you. So sick of this kind of b.s. On top of everything we have to deal with as Black people, and this kind of hatefulness is just vile.
Holy moly…
I am glad that you are here bc we need differing viewpoints to balance the discussion here and omg you just said a mouthful .
The insidious thing about white supremacy and the violence it induces, is that we are so used to seeing it, out in the open, with comments such as “don’t judge harshly “ (I am judging all day long, sister-sorry), that we don’t immediately chase it off the porch with a broom. We let it sit there, get comfortable, blend in and give it a voice, as if it is bringing something to the table and deserves to be heard and god help us, respected.
This is Christmastime and Advent season for my family , so I will only offer to say one brief, but heartfelt prayer for your soul. You seem young and my hope for you is that you come to the right side of humanity and take action to empower the weak, as they are oppressed by the strong. There is no other reason to be alive and this instinct to protect the weak is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Think about it.
*round of applause*
Ellee you just won the Internet. What he said about whiteness being the default and the ideal so that he was hesitant to label Larter and the directors as racists and wondering if his race was “a factor ” in Larter’s reluctance to perform the bed scene with him really spoke to me. I am sure all of them will come out with “I am not racist ” statements soon enough (especially after Larter receives backlash for her original statement) but in the employment law world we call it “mixed motive discrimination” when race, gender, etc is A factor in a decision but not the only factor. Here, it seems coupled with unconscious bias on the part of Larter (being more uncomfortable doing a bed scene with a black man yhan a white man) and disparate impact (which is where a facially neutral policy impacts a protected group more severely) in that I am sure writing off 3 minority characters seemed like individual decisions at thetime but collectively shows a larger issue. Circling back to Ellee, my prayer is that anyone in Hollywood who reads this does not have a knee-jerk reaction to condemn his position or Larter or the directors, but takes the opportunity to think about how these things play out in the future so they can do better.
@ItReallyIsYou,NotMe k8
“Circling back to Ellee, my prayer is that anyone in Hollywood who reads this does not have a knee-jerk reaction to condemn his position or Larter or the directors, but takes the opportunity to think about how these things play out in the future so they can do better.”
I like how you think, so I will add a prayer for Hollywood producers/writers/directors/actors:
“My hope and wish for you is that you do your part, as a fellow human being and person of privilege, to not only avoid taking any professional action that would further oppress a class of people that has been historically oppressed in the US by:
*being specifically excluded from historic economic benefits legislation such as the New Deal andthe Social Security Act;
*denied due process and publicly executed for “crimes” they were never charged with;
*the subject of legislation intended to ensure the disproportionate incarceration of their population; and
*the subject of legislation intended to take away their right to vote in public elections, thereby ensuring that they are denied the federal and local governmental representation afforded to those not in their class, but that you actually, proactively and instinctively imagine them as a white person in your mind and then act accordingly.
This should not be hard to do for a population as imaginative and creative as Hollywood-types and believe me, this will be very good for your soul: it’s easy and it’s free and it might just save you a trip to the therapist.”
Happy Holidays!
@Khia
I would suggest you read the whole article he wrote. The producers confirmed he was fired because she had some problem with him. 10 crew members also confirmed his accounts of that time. Perhaps your sympathy is misplaced, which is expected when reading only a bit of the story.
I agree, you have to read the whole article to get a real sense of the culture there.
To me, it sounded like a prolonged effort by Larter to be rid of him, and a writing and producing team that caved her demands rather than actually be creative and solve the problem. He lost his job. Everyone else kept theirs.
He was treated unfairly from the start, and the various incidents he mentions have been confirmed by numerous other people on the set.
Khia, she didn’t want to work cooperatively in a sex scene with a black actor and was happily engaged in collaborating in a sex scene with a white actor. You are “other siding” blatant racism. Ali Larter is a racist Karen who got what she wanted, and there is a long history of it in the U.S. Emmett Till came to mind as I was reading this. White women play innocent about it all the time, and many Black men have paid the price with everything ranging from job loss to death.
@Christina,
but we don’t know that she “happily engaged”. You’re taking someone’s word for it, who also took someone’s word for it.
@Larisa, perhaps Adrian Pasdar will confirm or deny. When an actor like Roberts writes an essay for Variety and puts himself out there like that, I would hope that he wouldn’t name check another actor about an experience unless it was true. I believe Mr. Roberts, yes. In my view, Roberts proved racist behavior that is traditionally discounted by those in power. It rings true to me. Her self serving apology is confirmation for me.
Her “statement” was problematic AF. If she wrote it, she’s an idiot. If her PR/agent wrote it, fire them. She made it all about HER. I’m done with Ali. Shame, as I love Final Destination movies.
Well yeah their characters had a volatile relationship. But as an actor, he made a very classy overture that went unacknowledged.
I really REALLY feel for actresses and the pressure they get to do sex scenes or nude scenes. So if what he described between him and Ali Larter was it, I could understand she may just have freaked out feeling pressure to do something she wasn’t comfortable with and she handled it awkwardly out of discomfort.
But the fact she apparently had no issues getting sexy with a white male costar is very telling.
Also, if she really were a shrinking violet about sexually suggestive scenes in general, she could have had a kind talk with her costar about her unease and they could have talked about how to make it comfortable and professional for both of them.
Although really, it doesn’t sound like she was being asked to do or reveal anything a conservative housewife wouldn’t do or reveal at the family beach. Has the woman never worn a strapless dress?
I know there are two sides to every story but looking at the contextual evidence, there’s more to support his side than hers.
I dunno.
She has a right to be uncomfortable in any scene and vice versa.
Speaking as a black woman, I have a problem in these dynamics when one side, – usually the black men – emote about their pain/hurt on a subject like this.
Any person has a right to feel uncomfortable, but not to direct that discomfort in the wrong place and at the wrong people, and in such a way as to imply one has been sexually defiled and robbed of one’s fragile, white, oh-so precious virtue and agency in hopes of rallying the Klan. This is some Amy Cooper, Carolyn Bryant (the woman who got Emmett Till murdered and never paid the price for it) BS.
I tense up when I hear supposedly powerful men whine like toddlers about their whiddle feefees in situations where they actually have the power.
The thing about this man and this situation is that he SHOULD have been in a position of power as a major cast member (not “coffee shop patron #2”) in an ensemble show. But instead he was marginalized and he provided evidence to suggest that all black cast members were also marginalized.
What are the odds that the producers didn’t know how to cast and coincidentally the weakest, most inflexible and untalented members of the cast (that they themselves chose) just happened to be black?
My take Is that the producers envisioned a diverse ensemble cast; went and found and cast the perfect actors for their show; and maybe just one, maybe two, white supremacists were on the writing team. There really no other explanation for what happened here, and I’d be very interested to hear from some of the writers (as opposed to the other lead actor that has basically been named as part of the problem) about what went down in the writers room each time they all agreed to just keep writing the black lead character out of the script, week after week, episode after episode, for like the first, apparently, six episodes of a new show. That would be super helpful- to hear from them what they were thinking and why.
And you can always tell when the writers are racists and misogynists and even when the actors are as well. I always am attuned to the dialogue and it’s hard to miss as a Black woman when you see a show where, for example, only the Black women characters are referred to in conversation as “bitch” multiple times in one episode.
How does a Black man have power in this situation?
Yeah, I’m getting major “Sleepy Hollow” vibes regarding the writing staff. SW was one blatant example of “we’d rather wreck the show than have a central interracial romance.”
I loved that show- though the writers clearly had no plan and a lot of characters and plots went nowhere and seemed poorly done as the show went on.
And the racism breaks my heart.
And yes, when it comes to racism, we get to judge the racist “harshly”.
Characters having a volatile relationship does not mean the actors are destined to have a difficult relationship.
And her pr statement certainly doesn’t make her seem less racist.
Wow so everybody’s going to talk about the shirt straps and only that. I read the whole thing piece yesterday, I suggest you all do before commenting, but I know that by posting this I will receive responses of “as a black woman, I did read it, and I agree with her”. I find the internet exhausting at times, so I’ll bow out of this story now. I don’t have the emotional labor to give to this today.
I’m about to walk right out with you. Anyone caping for Larter hasn’t been hearing POC this summer, or last year, or ever, and remains part of the problem. And if that person is a WOC, she has bought into the systemic racism.
There are lots of fake black women on the internet. They always pop up when it’s time to justify racism.
Lanie, that’s exactly how I meant that. I know, they get caught on Twitter quite a bit too. Fake pictures and all.
The fact that anyone would even get stuck on the shirt straps when Larter, as an acclaimed actress, felt “uncomfortable” simulating intimacy (doesn’t sound like a sex scene) with her TV husband who went out of his way to make her comfortable and clear the air in real life as a work colleague tells you that it was never about the shirt straps.
Larter wouldn’t have been topless. She wouldn’t have been nude. She was fine prancing in lingerie, but not comfortable wearing a tube top underneath a sheet? Something isn’t right.
I hated his comments in the straps bc the way it was phrased was like she didn’t have the agency to say no (let’s remember the backlash from the whipped cream bikini scene a few years ago). I’m not caping for her at all, just that I wish he hadn’t phrased it like this bc it took away from his overall point. That’s just semantics though. She’s a Becky for sure and the rest of the article makes it VERY clear that she had agency and an agenda to get him off the show.
I’m also surprised that they said there was a “lack of chemistry “. Wouldn’t they have auditioned with each other several times, including a chemistry test? It’s very clearly a terrible excuse to support kicking him off the show and keeping her on it. And for what? The show sucked after the first season anyway. They tokenized every POC.
The strap convo allows them to position her as a victim in a situation where she had the power/influence on set.
I read the whole thing and she’s 100 percent in the wrong. The producers and director didn’t do enough shit to stop her in her tracks and it’s really obvious she didn’t like him because of whatever freaking it was. I guess racism. And no her working with Idris Elba doesn’t mean she’s not racist. It just means she wasn’t dumb enough to try that shit with him.
Idris ALSO had more clout than she did so of course she wasn’t going to try that shit. Also Beyonce was on that set. Ali knew better to try that shit on Obsessed
I have no doubt that Larter was difficult af to work with nor do I doubt his experiences on set with the producers or staff BUT the way I’M reading that love scene with Larter was that the issue wasn’t her character being “intimate” with her scene partner, but what she had a problem with was the nudity or perceived nudity. That’s not an issue male actors usually have to deal with or understand the differences.
I’ve worked with actresses before. Its one thing to perform in lingerie and quite another to do so “topless.” And THAT’S the thing with directors. No matter what the production company and the agents agree to in the actors contract regarding nudity clauses or sex scene clauses, the directors and executives will ALWAYS push back and try to convince actresses to bare more than was originally agreed to.
Other than that, yeah, shes gaslighting the heck outta him with that statement.
I agree to a large extent, but the thing is, she wasn’t going to be topless. It was merely going to be implied. She could have even kept a bra on. Yet implying nudity was the most offensive thing to her in the whole world. We have to look at in a broader context, the sum of all its parts. And the broad strokes were, whether she knew she was being racist or not she was. It’s not up to her to decide whether or not she was weaponizing her whiteness and white womanhood. She was. She can be friends with only black people–the minute she behaves in a manner that demonizes one POC and gets him/her second-guessing whether or not her discomfort with that person is due to race, by acting as though she has been harmed by that person’s professionalism, she has crossed a line.
He checked when she did a love scene with a white actor she did not have the same concerns. So yeah, it wasn’t about lowering her straps. it was doing a love scene with a black man. He was very careful to illustrate this.
Yup.
But there WAS no nudity. None. None whatsoever. The whole point of acting is to imply things, so yes she was asked to imply that her character (a wife) was nude while having sex with her husband. I mean, WTF? No one was topless, so … ?
Her scenes with the white actor were more explicit and sexualized, even for network TV.
“I remember instinctively checking to make sure both my hands were visible to everyone who was there, as not to have my intentions or actions misconstrued” – holy wow. That made my jaw drop. Of course he will question if race was the factor. I would too. And blame is on higher ups too. I never cared for her anyway. I hate to say this, but something about her just never sat right with me. Maybe she just isn’t a very good actress.
She’s not.
Her CV will be remembered as a whipped cream bikini and getting her ass whooped by Beyonce.
Wow. This cuts to the core. In a completely different industry…I am now sitting at home because I made certain coworkers “uncomfortable” and was deemed “aggressive” yet “utterly inept” and “rude.” As a black executive and a man, I saw this maneuver that Ali pulled occur in my instance in a very different context where my professional behavior was treated very differently than the utterly unprofessional behavior other white men got away with (“oh, that’s just John” people would laugh when “John” would say racist, sexist and homophobic and anti-immigrant/anti-poor garbage.
I ended up being fired because “no one felt comfortable” working me. For the first time in 20 years. And yes…this trojan horse was driven by white women. The other black executive, a woman was drummed out a week after me. So, yeah. When I hear stories of 47 percent of white women of out all white women voters voted for trump…color me not shocked. It’s not just white men driving racism. White women have a huge role in all of this. Even if they aren’t actively engaging in this nonsense, unless they are engaged in antiracist behavior (which I have like never, ever seen in the professional world), they are complicit.
I apologize in advance but this is a raw thing.
The good news is I’m going to be fine and found a new job. But whew, I am seeing terrible flashbacks.
We got you. And you’re right to equate yours and his experiences. Larter weaponized her whiteness repeatedly. Even if it was just with that one man, that makes it more insidious. Because she (and all “sticking up for her”) first breaks that man’s spirit and then gets others to defend her because she doesn’t act a racist asshat with all black people. “Some of her best friends are black.” Honestly, white women are the drivers of systemic racism, because they’re the ones coasting in second position, benefitting almost as much as white men, and who rally and stir up the white men to protect or fight or “win” for them. This has been true since, well, ever.
I’m so sorry, Ellis. I hope your new job is fulfilling and that your new co-workers are not the kind of racist assholes you had to put up with for 20 years.
Thanks. Fingers crossed. Thankfully, this job was only two years of awfulness. I am hoping the next opportunity will be better and follow my previous experiences. I, like most black people in professional white spaces, walk a thin, tightwire to balance doing our jobs well while avoiding systemic racist behavior focused on undermining our accomplishments.
I will say, this is something for people to think about. Even in these comments, you can see Ali’s behavior being explained or excused. Seen it so many times. In a weird way, I’m not surprised. It is what it is. Even when so many gas-light and deny the true nature of what so many of us face when we have the audacity to step into spaces and roles that were never meant for us.
My experience is not as bad as yours but yeah, I have experienced the ‘you get penalised because a white woman is uncomfortable’ scenario. I’m sorry for your troubles.
Word to all of this @ellis I’m sorry you went through that, and glad you found a new job. From one who understands, I wish you well and so much better in your next position.
I’m so sorry. I wish people would remember these racist white men are raised by racist white women. They are absolutely complicit.
I don’t like the word “complicit” as it doesn’t really say the truth: lots of whites women drive the racist train. “Complicit” is a passenger. “Complicit” is just along for the ride. Some women just are complicit, but lots of women are actively involved in upholding the white supremacist power structure.
I’m so sorry you are going through that. I hope your new job is so much better, but I can’t imagine how frustrated and upset you must be.
I’m a white woman myself, and am utterly disgusted how many of us seem to know how to weaponize that.
Wow Ellis. So horrifying that it’s 2020 and the workplace is still full of hazards like this. Congratulations on the new opportunity and I wish you all the best.
Thank you for sharing, Ellis. I’m so sorry that this happened to you, and wish you great things in future. I’ve received my share of ABL narrative BS, so solidarity.
*hugs if wanted*
Nobody looks good here except Roberts. The thing is, he had no chance to understand anyone’s issue IF it wasn’t about race because clearly, nobody communicated properly. But after reading her statement it sure sounds like she has no excuse and his perception was correct. She’s not even denying it or giving her side of the story.
She’s not denying anything because she probably did every single thing he claims. I find her statement interesting in how clearly it mirrors so many of these “me too” statements of men who were accused of wrongdoing. It’s like a mad lib non-apology.
She was a bitch to him from the start, didn’t even acknowledge his note, and made sure he wasn’t introduced until episode 6. They’re playing a MARRIED COUPLE. She was asked to pull down the spaghetti straps of a TANK TOP while keeping it on. Cut the crap with not judging. This man has processed this for years to come to this conclusion and know this to be what happened.
@Shoo fly Exactly. He has had years to process this and the courage to share it. It should not be underestimated the courage it takes to speak out openly about such things. As Black folk, we risk everything by doing so, including our very lives.
I’m absolutely shocked that most commentators here are more concerned about her problem with lowering her top straps and completely ignore the context of what the story is actually about, her continued behavior and the producers behavior. Good to know how to treat future comments of wokeness. I have no idea if he is problematic or has had other onset issues. But until that comes out, this story is what is given to us and it’s very clear that Larter had a problem acting in a relationship with a black man and also that the show runners wanted diversity until they didn’t.
All of this.
I am not shocked. At all.
Yeah, this entire refrain in the comments sort of proves his point. I’m not shocked, but it is sad to see how much people will bend themselves into a pretzel to avoid admitting…well, racism had a huge role in this man’s mistreatment and it’s wrong and we should all be sorry and do better because what happened is unacceptable. It’s like being accused of benefitting from racism or being racist is worse than the impact of racism and racist systems on black people. Same song, different reframe.
Agreed @Tiffany and @Ellis
Yes and thank you!
People capping for Ali Larter…whew, chile. It’s too early in my day to read such foolishness. That show was problematic from the beginning. Reading about Ali’s aversion to anything intimate with a black man was depressing. She couldn’t even fake it. The producers let her get away with being a racist asshat and he was supposed to just suck it up because that’s the business. Nope! I hope calling her, Kring and that other obsequious little man out is cathartic for Leonard.
The show was great first season. It did have a diverse cast but fell apart second season and underwent a huge overhaul in plot, characters, etc. Now we know why. I only watched that show for Mohinder and Sylar.
So she couldn’t pull down her straps to turn her tank top into a tube top, and then have the blanket over her. It’s not like she was asked to come out in a whipped cream bikini.
Exactly!
A friend is a stage actress. A similar situation with the bra straps for a bed scene came up. She refused to to it and instead insisted in wearing a strapless bra so that neither her nor her co-star would feel uncomfortable or distracted by the straps. She was given a strapless bra, she did her six weeks of performances in it, no drama…because the solution was simple.
I was discussing this on Twitter last night. This racist idiot is not a good actress. At all. I believe that she was not attracted to Leonard and for her, that was his problem. So she could not even fake attraction, you know, like a professional actress would.
After D.L. was killed off, her character became useless and honestly so did parts of the show as a result. This is on Kring and Hammer for allowing her to control the narrative and have the show get trashed by fans and ratings get lower and lower as the seasons went on.
Oh, and asking him to do promotions after telling him he was fired. Whew, that could not have been me.
Absolutely on her. She has a right to feel uncomfortable in a scene and request accommodations, as all actors do. But it’s evident that what made her uncomfortable was not the scene itself but whom it was with, and the question as to why she didn’t want to APPEAR naked with him, but had no issues with it with someone else raises a lot of questions.
AND trying to low ball his payment for the final stuff he had to do for the show. I’m glad his management fought for him for that, but how insulting.
I had always wondered what happened. I was a fan of the first and second season of Heroes, and felt D.L.’s story had a lot of tales to be told and then the character was killed off. Which was a shame because I enjoyed his story and the actor much more than Ali Larter’s characters.
Let’s also have a talk about how Tim Kring is still getting work when two of his biggest shows had the same problem.
This
Ooh, what was the other show?
I remember watching the first season or so of Heroes and quitting, because seemed like a disjointed mess. Around that time, Kring did an interview patting himself on the back and saying his show was going to be great the whole series, not like LOST and other shows. It was such a turn off to me, shitting on other peoples’ work, that it seemed fitting his show dissolved into a steaming pile.
Also gross that they prided themselves on a diverse cast, but with an all white producing and writing staff, and then proceeded to kill off a lot of the non-white characters.
The Good Wife and what went down with Archie Panjabi.
Oh the Good Wife, with a white woman lead who couldn’t stand the WoC who was more popular and won a few awards when the lead didn’t.
Archie deserved so much better, and had to deal with BS because Julianna Margulies was also an Executive Producer.
I don’t think it’s the same guy, Tim Kring doesn’t have The Good Wife on his resume.
But I remember there were issues on the show between JM and Archie(who was so good!)
She wore a whip cream bikini in Varsity Blues, but asking her to lower her straps beneath a sheet was problematic.
So I think Larter’s argument is racist, and I think she is racist. But I don’t think your argument holds water, either. Plenty of women actresses get pressured into doing things they don’t want to do. Doesn’t mean their right to say no is gone forever. Just like a woman consenting to sex one specific time doesn’t mean she throws out her right to say no down the road in a different circumstance if she’s not comfortable.
BUT, in this instance, I don’t think she had a problem with “implied” nudity. It seems pretty clear she had a problem with the implication that she’d been having sex with a black man.
In regards to your points – yeah, obviously.
They weren’t asking her to do nudity.
They were asking her to imply nudity.
Her having a problem with that wasn’t actually related to nudity.
Next time, I’ll make sure to add a few paragraphs to clarify.
Which is wild because those characters had an obviously mixed race child.
Did she think the audience would assume her character got impregnated via emmaculate conception???
Sometimes I wonder if white audiences even notice how BIPOC are being treated on a show so often. How much more they suffer, or are sexualized and expendable. I have stopped watching so many shows because of this, but it’s been going on for so long audiences are conditioned to think it’s normal and ok.
When you said this, I immediately thought of the Tara character on True Blood. She never caught a break.
OMG I immediately thought of Tara too.
Sleepy Hollow. The new showrunners preferred to let the show collapse than put the interracial leads together.
Exactly!!! I am not even black and I felt so uncomfortable with her storylines! I have forgotten a lot about this show but this is something that stuck with me.
Oh my, gosh. Sleepy Hollow. My heart aches every time I think about Nicole Beharie’s health being permanently damaged from the abuse she suffered on that show all because she, a black woman, was more desirable to the white actor than was the white actress.All of the ignorant white writers and showrunners and Fox execs lost it completely to the point of destroying their successful product.
All the commenters trying to see “both sides” need to realize there is no advantage for Leonard Roberts to speak out now. In fact, he is doing this at considerable risk.So why would he say these things? Because they are true. Believe him.
omg Tara…I never liked True Blood but watched because I wanted to know what the fuss was about (and it was something to binge). But let me tell you, when the storyline was basically Tara being a *slave* *forever* to that white woman without the ability to even speak in asking for her freedom…!!!! I just…it was too much. And the rest of the storyline was just everyone else trying to get a taste of that sweet fairy juice aka the blonde lead (whatevs don’t care to remember that character’s name). I’m still pissed about that and it was years ago.
That show treated a lot of its characters poorly, but Tara the most by far.
It’s a good question worth exploring because I think at the very least it doesn’t register for most. Maybe that’s changing a bit? Maybe. Now interestingly enough I often do notice but didn’t in this case. Season two of Heroes was AWFUL, and made about 57 horrible character and plot choices before mid season. His stupid death wasn’t that out of place in that sense (seriously this show went off the rails so fast it was wild). I bailed before the end of season 2. But my guess is even in a stellar season this still would have been swept under the rug.
@Marty, some of us do. I’ve stopped watching shows because they’re too white or treat their POC characters as stereotypical jokes. I pay attention to the representation of POC in other media as well, like noting how after George Floyd and the widespread protests, stores starting using more POC models for their clothes.
But I’m sure I’m in a tiny minority of white people on this.
Agree @Marty I mentioned something about this upthread. It’s like, as BIPOC, we have to consciously turn off whole parts of ourselves in order to watch the majority of shows because every other line is some racist or sexist b.s. I always wait to see how many minutes in before they start bashing a BIPOC character in some manner. You can always tell the composition of the writers room from the dialogue. Some shows I really wanted to watch but couldn’t get past the racism (nor should I have to). And it’s so casual, like the producers and writers just don’t give a f-
Anyone sitting on here banging on about “but her shoulder straps!” needs to STFU for a minue and READ. THE DAMN. ARTICLE. That incident was but one microaggression he was subjected to by this basic blonde Karen.
She literally got this man fired for no other reason than that she could.
What are people choosing to ignore about that? Have they done it themselves?
^^^ Yep, either that, or, someone’s PR is busy working it. She’s on a current show, which already has problems so…I could see it.
Oh I bet a lot have done it themselves ! I’ve worked with MANY Karens. They are the worst ! They keep a microscopic eye on you at all times…just waiting and hoping you do something wrong so they can complain. It’s exhausting…f*ck these damn Karens.
I think part of the problem is that we are given one quick version of the story, and people want to extrapolate from those few facts. At the end of the day, he was there, he knows what his experience was and I believe him. it is not terribly hard to believe him because the history of that show supports his claims. (And we should have believed him even if the rest of the POC cast was not marginalized, but as they were, this should not be a difficult situation to understand)
He was told he was let go because of Larter, no one tried to hide that. She clearly did not want to work with him, period. As far as the “straps” go? It is 100% possible that she had a legit issue with what was being asked of her in that one scene, but regardless it seems pretty clear she did not want to work with him, and if he feels it was a racial issue, I believe him, because he is the person who was there not just on the “strap fiasco” day, but ALL the days, and he knows excatly what did and didn’t go on between them. So HE knows whether there were valid issues why she didn’t want to work with him, and it sure seems like there WEREN’T. We are getting one interview that states a very specific story, but he had a much wider experience with plenty of nuance. He knows far better than we ever could.
All of you defending Larter clearly didn’t read what Roberts wrote. You’re focusing on their one scene and ignoring a more explicit scene with a white actor that she had zero problems acting out with. You’re also not remotely acknowledging EVERYTHING ELSE THAT HAPPENED TO HIM THROUGH THIS.
Come on, now. Stop this. Larter is racist garbage. Your defence of her is vile.
I was a card carrying “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” Heroes fan back in the day.
Watching it then, they really didn’t seem to know what to do with DL as a character, and I couldn’t stand Nikki whoever. It annoyed me how do many guys on the show acted like her vadge spit out whiskey and diamonds and I didn’t understand why they tried so hard to make Ali Latter a big star. They killed off her character, then brought her back as a clooooonnne. Eye roll.
Hearing about this behind the scenes drama, it makes sense and I believe Leonard Roberts.
Way back in the day, I was doing stunt work on Final Destination and a couple of us were on a rather long staircase at the hotel while an outdoor scene was being adjusted (it was too freaking cold to wait outside). She comes swanning down the staircase and my back was to her – I hear this ridiculously exaggerated sigh so I turned around and she was glaring at us because we were daring to occupy space. Despite the fact that she had TONS of room to get down the staircase (again, one of those wide hotel ones), she literally flipped her hair and then drove her shoulder into me. She almost shoved me town the stairs. On purpose. The rest of the group was speechless….she was like that the entire time. She’s a total a-hole.
Geez. Well that tracks with the fact that basically every source for the piece said she was a jerk that no one on the show liked. She’s not even a good actress, she didn’t behave like a professional AND she still kept her job while she got her co-star (who by all accounts was a nice guy & a pro) fired. White privilege, ladies & gentlemen.
I believe this, (and I’m sorry this happened to you) but I believed Roberts when I first read the story and it really bugs me so many people are bringing up BS excuses. And frankly, if you weren’t sure, reading her stupid statement TOLD YOU WHO SHE IS.
@Rachel Wow this is unrelated to this article but your anecdote just reminded me so much of the time I ended up at Gwen Stefani’s New Year’s Eve party in 04 when she was still with Gavin. My friend and I were walking through an archway into a room where the DJ and dancing were when we ended up face to face with Gwen walking the other way out of the room. Instead of walking around us or even saying excuse me she just put both of her hands on my shoulders without saying a word and physically moved me to the side out of her way and then kept walking. I was shocked. I can’t stand her to this day. She was totally rude.
Wow, @Rachel…that is exactly the type of nasty person I imagined her to be in real life.
Wow. Well that explains why she didn’t acknowledge his kind overture and why she didn’t act like a paid professional actor and actually speak to him about how to make their portrayal of a volatile married couple their best work and a comfortable professional experience for both of them. It’s because apparently she’s incapable of complex nuanced thought.
I fear there are lots of white women like this, who’ve only dated in their race telling themselves thats just their taste & its not due to racism whatsoever but deep down they have very strong negative feelings of fear regarding black & brown men in sexual situations due to racism. The completely different response she had to a love scene with a white co-star says so very much.
When black & brown men and women express sexuality or are even suggested to, its portrayed as scary. Its a much different response than when white people do- the same levels of fear do not come up.
Beyonce was slut shamed for sitting on her husbands lap in a music video. Black and brown singers didnt have their music videos played on mtv in the 80s until a music label insisted we wont let you play our white artists videos unless you play our black and brown singers videos too. prince talked about sex a lot, Michael grabbed his crotch. Can you imagine the 80s and 90s without michael jackson and prince music videos?
I agree with you entirely, but I want to draw attention to the fact that we’re not even talking about racism and prejudice in *dating*. We’re talking about two actors hired to do a *job* — a job that Ali Larter refused to do — and how that refusal was rewarded time and again by the producers, show runners, and writing team to the detriment of the black actor who was completely able and willing to do his job.
I know that art (in this case acting) is so deeply connected with emotion that it’s really hard for some artists to separate themselves from their work. But that doesn’t make a job any less of a job. To be good at the job, actors either find a way to detach and still be convincing, or they immerse and become the character. Ali Larter did absolutely neither of those things, masked her racism as anti-misogyny, while *also* weaponizing her status as a white woman. Again, not after being asked out on Tinder, or over dinner and drinks. This was not a date — it was a day at the office. It doesn’t matter if she was truly attracted to her any of her costars.
I also question why we’re all kind of implying in threads like this that repulsion can’t be mutual — there’s been a bit of talk about whether she was attracted to him or not, but nothing highlighting that he probably was not at all attracted to her, but still capable of delivering the performance he was asked for in their scripts. He was highly uncomfortable with her, but willing to work, and still he suffered. I don’t think attraction entered the equation. So while I agree with your points, I think we should be having a different conversation about race in professional contexts.
Thank you @osito Such a good point
Of course SHE doesn’t remember it that way, because she kept her job while forcing someone else out of theirs. How disgusting that she cost this man his livelihood and never thought about him again.
It really was a straight up BLM story. Black man states he was discriminated against and fired because of a white woman. White woman cries blond tears and expects it to be over. Clearly she has used this before to get her way. I’m glad he called her out.
Jesus Christ so many of you are stuck on “bUT hER sTRAps!” All this coming from a woman whose entire character was a “sexy” teen (so many problems with that on a whole other level) that pranced around in a WHIPPED CREAM BIKINI in Varsity Blues. No, this is about a white bitch who looked at her POC costars as “dirty” and as such, cried about feeling so “disrespected” — that she had to do a scene with someone who wasn’t white. It’s disgusting racist microaggression to the extreme, and it’s so subtle because it hides behind the difficulties of being a woman in an industry that does not respect women. It’s gross and Ali Larter is a Karen in sheep’s clothing. End rant.
Wait. Hold on. People are starting to “add” to this story than sticking to what was said. Im not denying that Larter is a racist and problematic af on set (she does have a history), but the “disrespected” comment wasn’t about the doing the love scene with Leonard. It was to the producers insisting on her modifying what was originally agreed on before hand costume-wise while already on-set and in the middle of the damn scene. Anything else is a personal assumption.
“The strap issue” may seem like nothing to the rest of you, but is actually a huge deal that can also involve financial compensation issues. Body work issues aren’t so simple as they seem. Scenes like these are choreographed beforehand. It’s how they (producers/directors) get you and on the cheap.
Again, because I know people will lose their minds over my comment, this isn’t “caping” for Larter, its sticking the details as described by Leonard himself.
I never liked Ali Larter. She comes across like someone who would do the things Leonard says she did to him.
Her job is to portray intimacy. There’s lots of ways to imply intimacy and if she wasn’t a giant racist asshole grinding production to a halt, perhaps through communication instead of tantrums, everyone could have found a solution that would cover her precious shoulders for her precious white whipped cream bikini dignity. She failed at every level of her job. Instead of owning up to her failure, she worked her whiteness to get her costar fired.
I hope Ray Fisher can get together with Leonard to have a healing session.
I have major eye for anyone using their supposed status as an “Internet Black Woman” to cape for racists. Especially those who then go on to generalize about Black men’s “widdle feelings”
I want to hear from Idris Elba. He worked with her on Obsessed, which is awful btw. There are some scenes that were very explicit and tense in that movie. I wonder how she acted with him.
Here’s the thing about this scenario and why I think people are full of it in giving Ali a pass. If I as a Woman of color had a situation where I felt uncomfortable working with a white men for merely being white, it would not be ok for me to take my personal dislike out on that white man and try to get him fired if he hadn’t actually done anything racist to me. If Who cares if I didn’t like said white man personally. You’re here to do a job and behave professionally, putting your personal feelings aside and multiple people on the set (not just him) verified she couldn’t do that and complained about him without bothering to at least try and resolve whatever issue she had with him directly. People saying well she gets a pass because we don’t know her story or whatever semantic hoops they want to jump through, please know this is a peak all sides argument and I’m here to call it for what it is. She doesn’t get a pass period. Your entitlement doesn’t mean you get to treat other people with such disregard and inconsideration (and the fact that she still continues to think it does per her foolish PR statement dismissing his experiences on set) continues to demonstrate she is operating and promoting privilege and falling on making herself a poor innocent viy
I watched the first season of Heroes when it was at its height and I vaguely remember the character Leonard played. I think DL had the power to walk through solid objects, so he could walk through walls and such. I remember his character taking awhile to show up and he really didn’t have much to do honestly. I found Ali Larter’s character arc really annoying, the whole evil split personality thing was really tedious.
As a woman, Ali Larter is of course allowed to have agency over her body and I support her in her right to express her objection if she feels uncomfortable (taking off the straps of the top versus showing them). But it seems she has done racier scenes then just lying in bed with an actor playing her husband. And the fact that Leonard brings up that she did a much more revealing scene with a white actor on the same show makes her look like a hypocrite. She wasn’t even that great of an actress (has anyone from the Final Destination franchise ever made it big?), so I don’t see why the show runners even kept her character around. The whole thing is a classic situation of white privilege, pure and simple.
I watched it too and I forgot about their characters until reading your comment. It was weird he didn’t appear sooner I remember her just running around with her kid like a single mom and then he just showed up randomly after half the season was over. I think the show runners or producers or whoever is in charge of deciding these things were racist and just pushing Ali and Hayden as the blonde white girl leads while still trying to get points for having a few token black characters. Come to think of it the asian characters were pretty stereotyped too, weren’t they? I would not be surprised if they decided to get rid of the black characters and just bs’d an excuse like ‘oh it’s because of Ali’ to blameshift onto her. I’m not saying she isn’t racist either – it sounds very much like she was/is, and probably the kind where you aren’t aware of it you just “don’t feel comfortable” around or don’t like someone who is black without giving it any further thought why or if that has more to do with you than them.
This has totally changed how I feel about Ali, I will no longer support any of her projects.
I am glad that he got a chance to speak his truth.