American actor Kendrick Sampson (How to Avoid Punishment for Murder), along with Tessa Thompson (Avengers Final, Thor: Ragnarok) and Black Lives Matter co-founders Patrice Kallors and Melina Abdullah, have written a letter addressed to the entire entertainment industry.

According to Variety, it was signed by more than 300 black cultural figures, including Chadwick Bowzman, Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, Mahershala Ali, Queen Latifa, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Kravitz.

In their appeal, artists accuse Hollywood of supporting the white race, discriminating against African Americans and encouraging police violence. Also, in their opinion, it was he who was to blame for the fact that a misconception about the life of dark-skinned people, who are now suffering due to the formed stereotypes, has allegedly developed around the world.

“The contribution of Hollywood and the leading media to the criminalization of the image of black people - including through stories that portray us prone to aggression - to create a distorted view of the legal system, as well as to glorify police corruption and police lawlessness, had disastrous consequences for the lives of African Americans,” stated in a published document.

The authors of the letter claim that it was the activities of precisely white filmmakers that led to such consequences.

“Whites are the smallest racial group on our planet, but their stories around the world are considered universal. When we nevertheless have a rare opportunity to tell our stories, the development, production, distribution and marketing processes are often overshadowed and distorted by whites, and are also used by them for their own purposes, ”the artists said.

According to them, racial discrimination in Hollywood can be traced in everything: agencies do not hire black employees, and trade unions do not protect their interests.

Studios and production companies supposedly benefit from products manufactured by African Americans, but almost never trust them to high-ranking posts, while the artists themselves, they claim, make "a tremendous invaluable cultural and economic contribution to the film industry."

The artists ended their appeal with an appeal to Hollywood to prove that he needed black specialists. So, among the requirements presented by the authors of the letter are the refusal of the presence of the police on the set and various events, the prohibition of “anti-black” content, and the support of “anti-racist content”.

Also, artists insist that in all major studios, agencies, management companies and other organizations among those who occupy high positions, black specialists should be present.

In addition, any Hollywood institution, according to the authors of the letter, should create a system of recruitment and ongoing support for black professionals in each department with clear career paths up to senior management positions.

  • © Shot from the film "Gone with the Wind" (1939)

The problem of racism escalated in the United States in late May after the death of African-American George Floyd during police detention. Mass protests flared up in many cities. Many stars of show business in social networks began to express support for black people, to distribute petitions, to encourage compatriots not to ignore the problem and do everything possible to solve it.

However, many artists have been criticized by African Americans, who deemed their actions unacceptable or inadequate. For example, director Taiku Waititi, who released a post with words of support, was accused of not understanding the feelings of black people, and TV presenter Ellen Degeneres - of supporting “war criminals” due to the fact that her publications on social networks were allegedly too vague.

Internet users also criticized DJ David Guetta, who organized a concert on the roof, which included a musical composition with the famous speech of Martin Luther King. His reaction to events in the country was called "the whitest."

Actress Emma Watson also got: Instagram users were outraged by the white frames accompanying all her photos on the social network, including those that were published as part of the #blackouttuesday flash mob.

Outraged netizens remembered the stars and their old mistakes. So, in early June, due to racist tweets eight years ago, actor Hartley Sawyer lost his job: he was fired from the superhero series Flash, where he played Ralph Dibney.

Nothing threatens the career of singer Sean Mendes, but he was also forced to apologize for his posts on social networks that he wrote at the age of 14. Fans reminded him of them at a recent meeting. 

In May, a video appeared on the network in which the popular TV presenter Jimmy Fallon, as part of the Saturday Night Live show in 2000, shows a parody of actor Chris Rock. In his number, the artist uses blackface - makeup for a black person. Interestingly, most viewers liked the video. However, there were those who criticized the sketch and urged the artist to resign from The Tonight Show, where he works now. In the end, Fallon was forced to apologize for the video 20 years ago.

In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface. There is no excuse for this.

I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.

- jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) May 26, 2020

After Fallon, another TV presenter apologized for his old performances with the same blackface - Jimmy Kimmel. Earlier in the "Show for Men", which ran from 1999 to 2004, he parodyed many celebrities, including African-Americans. Network users remembered this against the background of what is happening in the United States, began to criticize the presenter and call him a racist.

Such scandals affected not only individual representatives of show business, but also entire projects.

In early June, HBO Max streaming service announced a decision to remove the 1939 film Gone With the Wind from its catalog for a while. This happened after the publication of the filmmaker John Ridley, who noted that the cult tape shows painful stereotypes about black people. Later, the film will again be available on video service, but along with additional materials explaining the historical context. 

HBO Max was also followed by other video services, which decided to “clean up” their catalogs in the light of current events. Netflix, BBC and BritBox declined to broadcast Little Britain because of the use of blackface. The same fate until the end of this week will befall four episodes of the series "Studio 30", available on Hulu and Amazon Prime. The reason again was the make-up that actors use.