Racial Injustice In Hollywood By Celebrities

Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that we continue to live in a society where others are discriminated against due to their race. And following the tragic murders of GeorgeFloyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and countless others, it is only fitting that our conversations surrounding racial injustice remain of the utmost importance.

While the issues at the heart of the BlackLivesMatter movement may be news to some, many famous people of color have been dealing with experiences of racism, from the early days of their careers in Hollywood to today. And however high their celebrity status may be, racism occurs on a spectrum and continues to affect all BIPOC daily. 

Below, find such stars who have shared their personal experiences with racial discrimination throughout their time in Hollywood.

Zendaya

On a 2018 Beautician Festival panel with businesswoman Bozoma Saint John, Euphoria actress opened up about how she is the industry’s “acceptable version of a black girl”. From there, she continued to explain why colorist within the beauty and entertainment industries needs to end.

“As a light-skinned black woman it’s important that I’m using my privilege, my platform, to show you how much beauty there is in the African-American community,” she said.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan in 2016, the former Disney star stressed how important it was for her to understand her “privilege” as a light-skinned black woman.

“Unfortunately, I have a bit of a privilege compared to my darker sisters and brothers,” she said. “Can I honestly say that I’ve had to face the same racism and struggles as a woman with darker skin? No, I cannot.”

Naomi Campbell

In 2016, British supermodel Naomi Campbell opened up about her experiences with racism throughout her career in her autobiography, Naomi Campbell.

Detailing her times when she wouldn’t be included in certain fashion shows because of her ethnicity. “When I started out, I wasn’t being booked for certain shows because of the color of my skin,” she said (quote via an excerpt published in The Guardian).

“I didn’t let it rattle me. From attending auditions and performing at an early age, I understood what it meant to be black. You had to put in the extra effort. You had to be twice as good.”

In the same year, Campbell spoke to Teen Vogue regarding her disappointment over how little had changed for black models since she started in the industry.

“When I was younger, I encountered this same issue. I would be backstage at shows and there would be stylists who didn’t have any experience working with black models,” she said, adding that she would always bring her own make-up and hair products to shoots. “It’s disappointing to hear that models of color are still encountering these same issues all these years later,” Campbell added.

Gemma Chan

Actress Gemma Chan opened up in a 2019 interview with Glamour, about the racial discrimination she encountered trying to make it as an actress in Hollywood.

In a conversation on feminism, sexism, and calling out lazy Hollywood stereotypes, the Crazy Rich Asians star revealed that she’s experienced over a decade of being overlooked by casting directors for being classified as both “too Asian” and “not Asian enough”.

“Back when I started out a lot of the parts that I would be asked to audition for would be specifically ethnic parts. But I was told things like, ‘We really liked you, we liked your read, but can you do more of an accent? You sound too English!’ There were preconceived ideas of what someone like me should sound like,” she added.

Thandie Newton

In 2020, actress Thandie Newtown spoke candidly to Vulture about the racist experiences she has experienced with Hollywood executives.

Particularly, Newtown recalled her time on-set of Charlie’s Angels, where the head of the studio met with Newton and asked if she could more “believable” is when playing the character. The studio head told Newton that even though both she and the character come from educated backgrounds, that she saw the actress as “different” and requested she makes some changes.

“She’s like, ‘Maybe there could be a scene where you’re in a bar and she gets up on a table and starts shaking her booty.’ She’s basically reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character,” Newton said. “I didn’t do the movie as a result.”

Viola Davis

Despite winning two Tony Awards, an Oscar, a British Academy Film Award, Viola Davis’ incredibly accomplished career is undermined. In a video from 2018, Davis is speaking at a Women of the World event and calls out the double standard in Hollywood when it comes to pay and respect for women of color.

“I got the Oscar, I got the Emmy, I got the two Tonys, I’ve done Broadway, I’ve done off-Broadway, I’ve done TV, I’ve done film, I’ve done all of it,” she tells the audience. “I have a career that’s probably comparable to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Sigourney Weaver. They all came out of Yale, they came out of Julliard, and they came out of NYU. They had the same path as me, and yet I am nowhere near them, not as far as money, not as far as job opportunities, nowhere close to it.”

“But I have to get on that phone and people say, ‘you’re a Black Meryl Streep…There is no one like you.’ Okay, then if there’s no one like me, you think I’m that you pay me what I’m worth. You give me what I’m worth.”