A reporter tried to exclude Ayo Edebiri from answering a question about the “politically correct era” in Hollywood, but she stepped in and responded anyway.
During a press junket at the Venice Film Festival for the new Luca Guadagnino film, “After the Hunt,” in which she co-stars with Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield, a reporter asked only Roberts and Garfield for their opinion on the way Hollywood has changed due to the Me Too and the Black Lives Matter movements of the late 2010s and 2020s. More specifically, the reporter asked, “What have we lost in the politically correct era?” The reporter asked twice for the two actors, who are both white, to respond, leaving Edebiri out.
Fans online questioned why the reporter chose not to direct the question to Edebiri, a Black actress who has experience with Hollywood’s resistance to diversifying. Working as a TV writer on the animated adult series, “Big Mouth,” she ended up replacing Jenny Slate in the role of Missy, a biracial character on the show who is Black and Jewish. Slate, who is white and Jewish, stepped down after the fourth season of the show in 2020 and said in an announcement that “Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people.” As a result, Edebiri auditioned and was recast in the role as Missy.
All three actors seemed confused at the question, which referred to the two social movements as “done.” Roberts even asked the reporter to remove their sunglasses to see who they were making eye contact with. Edebiri decided to address the question, pointing out that she was excluded.
“I know that that’s not for me, and I don’t know if it’s purposeful that it’s not for me,” Edebiri said, referring to the reporter’s question. “But I don’t think it’s done at all.”
She went on to articulate that she believes that the movements have not died, but are covered less in the media than they were before.
“Hashtags might not be used as much, but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people every day that’s beautiful, important work that’s not finished,” she said. “Maybe there’s not mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been eight or so years ago, but I don’t think that means that the work is done.”
Garfield also backed up Edebiri’s point, agreeing that there may just be less coverage of the social movements.
