CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 12, 2018: Michael B. Jordan attends the photocall for the 'Farenheit 451' during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival (taniavolobueva / Shutterstock.com)
Michael B. Jordan calls on Hollywood to hire more Black people.
On Saturday, actor Michael B. Jordan called out police brutality and racial injustice at a protest organized by the four major talent agencies in Hollywood.
The actor whose acting career was launched by the 2013 indie film ‘Fruitvale Station’, called Hollywood to hire more black people and increase diversity.
“You committed to a 50/50 gender parity in 2020,” Jordan said. “Where is the challenge to commit to black hiring? Black content led by black executives, black consultants. Are you policing our storytelling as well? Let us bring our darkness to the light.”
Thousands of people organized and protest demanding an end to systemic racism after the death of George Floyd due to Minneapolis police officers.
This is not the first time Michael B. Jordan called for more diversity. In 2018, the actor committed to making the entertainment industry more diversity by making his company Outlier Society Productions would use inclusion riders for all upcoming projects. An inclusion rider is a clause in an actor’s contract, which allows them to set the diversity requirements for a cast and crew before working on a project.
“Anybody that deals with me, if you have racist beliefs, if you have a racist bone in your body, if you’re not with me, if you don’t stand with me and people that look like me, you don’t need to be with me,” he added. “I use my power to demand diversity but it’s time that studios and agencies do so.”
In 2013, Michael B. Jordan’s breakout role ‘Fruitvale Station’ follows the final days of Oscar Grant, an unarmed black man who was killed by an Oakland, California police officer in 2009.
In relevant news, ‘Fantastic Four‘ director says he wanted to cast a black actress for the role of Sue Storm in the 2015 feature film. However, the studio said no.
The director recently had an interview with ‘Geeks of Color’ and discussed the casting of the superhero movie. He explained he had plans for the cast, but received “pushback” from the studio.
“There were a lot of controversial conversations that were had behind-the-scenes on that. I was mostly interested in a black Sue Storm, a black Johnny Storm, and a black Franklin Storm,” Trank stated. “But when you’re dealing with a studio on a massive movie like that, everybody wants to keep an open mind to who the big stars are going to be.”
