Issa Rae is holding nothing back while calling out Hollywood for its history of not dealing with people enveloped in scandals and controversy.
The “Insecure” creator especially thinks Tinsel Town has shown it struggles to deal with accusations of women being harmed by its leading men and executives. Since the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017, numerous incidents alleging misconduct on behalf of men have come to light. But as far as Rae is concerned, Hollywood is still struggling to condemn problematic behaviors.
“It feels like we’re regressing, depressingly so. There are just too many enablers for there to be real change. People have to be held accountable. There have to be legitimate consequences. Hollywood is very bad about consequences,” she told Elle in an interview published Oct. 13.
“While I don’t support people jumping to immediate conclusions and I think it’s entirely fair for investigations to happen, I think it’s extremely important to, like the mantra says, ‘Listen to women,’” Rae continued.
She said an example of the industry seemingly turning a blind eye to allegations for the sake of making a profit is the case of Ezra Miller. Since 2020, Miller has found himself caught in the crosshairs of trouble. From being caught choking a woman on camera, committing felony burglary, being arrested for disorderly conduct and harassment and other allegations, “The Flash” star has been the subject of several concerning headlines. But his ability to keep working and lead the upcoming Marvel film is a “microcosm of Hollywood,” said Rae.
Speaking about Miller, she added, “There’s this person who’s a repeat offender, who’s been behaving atrociously, and as opposed to shutting them down and shutting the production down, there’s an effort to save the movie and them. That is a clear example of the lengths that Hollywood will go to to save itself and to protect offenders … They won’t have to live in fear of keeping silent because it’ll ruin their careers. It’s just a constant pattern of abuse that’ll only persist if Hollywood continues to insist on being this way.”
Online, the “Rap Sh!t” creator’s fans have applauded her for speaking out. One person tweeted, “Issa being the only celeb to call out Hollywood for staying silent and supporting Ezra through all the violence and harm they’ve caused, is what using your power for good looks like. Hollywood’s culture is to protect abusers, and abandon victims.”
“Issa Rae is 100% correct. Ezra Miller is just one of the thousands of white folks in Hollywood that is not being held accountable for the harm they cause,” tweeted a second.
And a third wrote, “Shout out to Issa Rae for saying this about Ezra Miller. It should be noted that she has two shows on HBO Max and ABLSS on HBO so WBD effectively signs her checks and she’s actively speaking up in a way that could make her bosses mad but she’s doing it anyway.”
