By Andrew Sanford | News | January 13, 2025 |
We’re living in wild times. Yeah, I said it! I don’t care whose mind I blow with that startling revelation. An aging and raging lunatic and criminal racist just became President by like two million votes, and a bunch of people in charge have taken that as a cue to let their s*** flags fly. A billionaire dweeb just went on a stupid podcast to declare that companies should have more masculine energy right after making changes to his own company that will allow harassment and worse to flourish. He also killed his company’s DEI programs, a trend spreading across multiple industries.
There are companies with no moral fiber or spine and there’s COSTCO (if there are other places fighting calls to kill their DEI programs they have spines as well). Many companies are cutting their programs because a bunch of loud s***heads are blaming those programs for all of their ills. Look no further than idiots ragging on f***ing firefighters working their hardest to battle the blazes currently happening in Los Angeles, despite some of the people they’re complaining about being career firefighters (and can only do so much against devastation created by climate change).
What’s ironic is that companies in Los Angeles have already rolled back their DEI programs significantly. The entertainment industry has not been that different in its response to Donald Trump’s reelection. Studios have been killing their DEI programs in recent months, but how well they employed them is certainly up to question. Has Hollywood ever truly cared about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion? If so, why is one of the industry’s most successful Black actors struggling to make a living?
Djimon Hounsou has been nominated for two Academy Awards. He’s starred in numerous blockbusters. Stephen Speilberg saw his tape out of 150 people who auditioned for Amistad and said, “That guy has the juice” (or that’s how I assume it happened). Despite having accolades, an impressive career, and undeniable star quality, Hounsou has lamented recently that he still struggles to make a living, especially compared to some of his contemporaries.
“I’m still struggling to make a living,” the actor said on CNN’s African Voices Changemakers. “I’ve been in this business making films now for over two decades with two Oscar nominations, been in many blockbuster films, and yet, I’m still struggling financially. I’m definitely underpaid.” Hounsou took his justified complaints further, alleging that he was not recognized at the Oscars for his work on Amistad because of where he came from (Cotonou, Dahomey) and the color of his skin.
“I was nominated for the Golden Globe, but they ignored me for the Oscars, talking about the fact that they thought that I had just came off the boat and off the streets,” Hounsou explained. “Even though I successfully did that [film], they just didn’t feel like I was an actor to whom they should pay any respect. This conceptual idea of diversity still has a long way to go. Systemic racism don’t change like that anytime soon.” Bingo.
Hounsou’s complaints are, unfortunately, not the least bit surprising. They do speak to a larger problem, not just in the entertainment industry but in society writ large. Despite what many people may want you to believe, racism is still a problem (again with the shocking statements)! Not only is it still a problem, but many people currently in charge are deciding that they are fine if it remains a problem because it doesn’t affect them, and they are pretending the election was a mandate stating that everyone is okay with that. A lot of industries are prepared to move backward, and that’s an even bigger f***ing problem when they’ve barely moved forward to begin with.