Jonathan Majors is receiving credit for standing up for a Black reporter during an interview on the red carpet at the Sundance Film Festival over the weekend. The “Lovecraft Country” star finished the interview despite a festival staff member trying to rush him away from the interview, citing time.
As journalist Daric L. Cottingham interviewed the “Devotion” actor, a staff person from the festival interjected and tried to end the interview just as Cottingham was finishing up.
“Guys, I’m sorry. We really need to go,” said the staff member as Cottingham tried to explain they were almost done. A publicist intervened and also explained the interview was nearly complete.
“Sir, I know. I understand,” said the publicist. “We’re going to get him to the stage, but it’s just this one interview.”
The back and forth continued until Cottingham noted the interview would have been finished had it not been interrupted. That’s when Majors intervened and defended Cottingham.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” said Majors, indicating for the reporter to finish the interview. “If he physically removes me … I’m just gonna, he can’t move us,” he said to the publicist.
Cottingham shared the interruption on Twitter with a caption noting how kind the actor was during the interview.
“Also, this happened and Jonathan Majors is so nice/kind & stood up for me to make sure I got my question answered. lol the life of a Black journalist.”
Cottingham also noted on Twitter that other journalists at the event had already been instructed that they were limited to two questions and were asking the second question when they were interrupted.
“Hi! Um came back to see this spread,” wrote Cottingham. “Some think I was in the wrong somehow. I was not. We were already told there was a time crunch & a limit of 2 questions, perfect. Time got tighter so 1 question, cool. I began asking my question and this happened. I followed what I was told.”
Fans commented on the video, with several mentioning they deemed as the disrespect Black journalists face in the entertainment industry.
“This is the life of Black people in the entertainment industry,” noted one fan. “Even though we’re widely revered as actors and musicians we’re treated like afterthoughts as people.”
Another fan pointed out how much time the staff member wasted trying to interrupt the interview.
“That man basically wasted time telling them to stop their interview when he could have let them use that time finishing their set. What a power-hungry moron. I hope his boss lets him know that was totally unprofessional. And rude AF!”
Other fans left comments about how Majors handled the situation. “Mr. Majors a real respectful and respectable dude,” replied one fan.
“The way he looked him up and down,” added another fan. “We love this man,” echoed another.
The Sundance Film Festival concludes on Jan. 29.
