Here’s What Gabrielle Union Had to Say About the Current Chauvinistic Culture in Hollywood
Have you heard Gabrielle’s moving message regarding the culture in Hollywood?
After American actress and Bring It On legend, Gabrielle Union, was suddenly dismissed from NBC’s reality competition series “America’s Got Talent,” she opened up about her arduous experience as a black woman in Hollywood.
Gabrielle Union breaks silence on Simon Cowell’s smoking, feeling ‘othered’ on ‘AGT’ before dismissal https://t.co/IBuNVmegRw pic.twitter.com/A6Rj8ERTsI
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) May 28, 2020
Gabrielle reveals that Hollywood serves as a hostile space for women, especially black women. She explains that her male counterparts receive no consequences for their actions and consequently never reform their behavior. While on the set of AGT, Gabrielle filed several complaints against her coworker Simon Cowell after he repeatedly smoked backstage. However, due to Cowell’s standing as the series producer, he continued smoking, undeterred by her complaints, and faced no repercussions. Gabrielle was forced to power through the season and stomach her respiratory problems.
As @TaranaBurke says, we gotta protect our truth tellers. Thank you @itsgabrielleu for speaking out to radically transform these spaces and make way to build safer ones for those coming in after you. We got you! https://t.co/I7Tx3Q3vOo
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) May 27, 2020
Although this is only one example of Gabrielle’s lifelong struggle of having to weather unpleasant work environments where her voice is ignored, this example is still salient. Gabrielle eloquently compares her ageless film Bring It On to the toxic Hollywood culture. Bring It On, a seemingly light, feel-good cheerleading movie, actually touches on extremely weighty, relevant issues that stain modern society. In the film, a white cheerleading squad steals the choreography of a rival black cheerleading squad. Allegedly, this routine copying has persisted for years, unpunished. Despite this apparent appropriation, the white cheerleading squad receives credit for the impressive routines, while the black squad is denied recognition for their hard work. This is simply a textbook example of cultural appropriation.
in honor of Black history month, here is Gabrielle Union and Blaque showing how white people steal black culture in Bring it on. pic.twitter.com/5HG3SYnSWH
— c (@chuuzus) February 4, 2020
Gabrielle encourages her peers to transform Hollywood into a more inclusive space, a space where diversity is celebrated and the belittling of minorities is no longer tolerated. We commend Gabrielle for using her platform to relay this important message.
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