Latest / The imuRgency Room / It’s A Bad Time To Be Black In Hollywood (BAFTAS & KATSEYE)

Transcript

It’s A Bad Time To Be Black In Hollywood (BAFTAS & KATSEYE) · The imuRgency Room

0:00
Manol from Cat's Eye is being allegedly forced to go on a
0:02
temporary hiatus and potentially getting kicked out of Cat's Eye
0:05
and Sinners is Michael B Jordan and Deborah Linda while on stage
0:08
during a live award show got Doug called the N word hard R
0:11
while presenting an award. Yeah, that's a lot going on all
0:15
in one week. But one thing is for sure and
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that is that it is a terrible time to be black in Hollywood
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right now. And let's really talk about it
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because these two instances have really just left my mouth a jar,
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especially given that all this is going down during Black
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History Month. Hey, guys, it's up to emergency.
0:32
And welcome, welcome back to my channel.
0:33
We need to talk about this. And honestly, if this catches
0:36
you at a bad time, I completely understand if you need to take a
0:39
minute before you can really dive into and engage with this
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video fully. Because again, honestly, when I
0:45
first heard these headlines last night, I needed to take a beat.
0:49
I just really couldn't engage fully with what I was reading
0:52
and what I was seeing because I was and am tired.
0:56
This week, three things happened in pop music that made me
0:58
realize how much y'all actually hate black women.
1:01
And it was Leanne Penning releasing her debut album,
1:03
Normani performing at a show in LA, and Manon announcing that
1:06
she was going on hiatus from Cat's Eye.
1:08
Because why aren't you all under the comments of every single one
1:10
of those girls posts or posts about them being as evil and
1:13
mean spirited as you can be? Like, I am just so tired of
1:17
seeing stuff like this happen so blatantly and so just, like, in
1:20
your face. And I really don't think I'm
1:22
alone in this. Like, it just seems like time
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after time after time, we are consistently reminded that,
1:27
like, yeah, the world don't really give AF about Blackness
1:30
or Black people. And this is very much that
1:33
because this video was initially just going to be a video talking
1:35
about Katzai and Manoff. Interestingly, we are going to
1:37
get into that. But then right before I was
1:40
about to film that video, this stuff at the Baptist happened
1:43
with Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo.
1:45
And I, I like where do we even go from there?
1:49
And it really got me thinking like this is not just a one off
1:52
thing. Like it doesn't make sense to
1:54
make 2 videos talking about these two different things
1:56
separately. Because I think the through line
1:58
here over what's going on and the issues about what's going on
2:02
are consistent for both and paint a larger picture about how
2:05
blackness and black people are treated in the Hollywood and
2:07
Justin entertainment in general, and what that says about the
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times we're in and the greater culture abroad.
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Because again, as I say all the time on this channel, like
2:14
nothing exists in a silo. And oftentimes our media,
2:17
entertainment and those that create it speak for and tell the
2:21
story of what's going on in the real world.
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And I fear that the story that these two incidents are telling
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are not a good one. So let's get into it.
2:28
Let's talk about Mano from Cats Eye first.
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So if you're unfamiliar with Cats Eye and the whole lore and
2:33
weren't there for the gnarly era, I completely understand.
2:36
Cats Eye is an international girl group that was formed
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together into the music groups Hive Geffen, which if you're
2:41
even tangentially into the K pop world might sound familiar
2:44
because they're also the same companies behind the very
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popular K pop groups Laserfim, BTS and Nugene and the group
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Cat's Eye Blue popularity because we essentially got to
2:53
see the group be formed and get it start through the Netflix
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show Pop Star Academy, which was a continuation of the previous
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series Dream Academy essentially where we saw all the girls
3:01
compete for their spots on Cat's Eye and one of the most popular
3:04
girls and also the only black girl in the group.
3:07
Manol initially received a lot of Flack and backlash from both
3:10
the company and by some people in the audience for being seen
3:13
as lazy because she would miss practices because she'd be sick
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and was seen as not working as hard.
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It wasn't seen as wanting the role as bad as the other girls.
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And this narrative around Manol has been the through line of her
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career thus far with a common criticism of her being that like
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she doesn't give energy or the same amount of energy and that
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she's always missing or sick. And personally, I really don't
3:32
like this narrative being spread about a black woman, that she's
3:34
being lazy and that she doesn't want to show up for work.
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And Manol has actually come out herself in recent interviews
3:38
speaking about how that narrative about her has really
3:40
gotten her and how she feels like she has to work multiple
3:42
times harder to just be seen as good enough to fight that
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stereotype. And that's really sad.
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But also the story of so many black women in corporate were
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just generally in life having to work multiple times harder for a
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fraction of the acknowledgement and success.
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But that's not specifically why we're talking about Menaul right
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now. We're talking about Menaul
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because it has recently come to light that she has been put on
4:01
temporary hiatus from the cat side group.
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And this initially didn't ruffle as many feathers because it was
4:05
assumed that, like, this was her decision that she's just taking
4:08
some time for health and to get better because she has been
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known to have health issues in the past.
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And the Internet at large at first was like, all right, take
4:14
some time for your health. This is a little bit weird.
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But like, you know, we're here for you.
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Take some time and get healthy. But then shortly after, Manoa
4:20
herself put out a message that alluded to the fact that this
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was not necessarily her decision to be put on hiatus.
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Now, the real reasons behind why Manoa's put on hiatus are not
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yet clear as we're recording this video.
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But based on her message, it seems like this is something
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that is out of her control. In a message to her fans, she
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says. Hi friends, I want you to to
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hear this for me. I'm healthy, I'm OK and I'm
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taking care of myself. Thank you for checking in.
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Sometimes things unfold in ways we don't fully control, but I'm
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trusting the bigger picture. Thank you for standing by me and
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I love you endlessly and can't wait to see you again.
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By this document, Manal is getting kicked out.
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They said that they reviewed her and the company is considering
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her termination because she has reduced participation in Group
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activities and consistent availability, brand alignment
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concerns and long term group reconstruction plans.
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Like they want to reconstruct the group.
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I guess. Document was through Heiben
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Geffen Records and the subject was Manal status review and
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group restructuring plan for Cat's Eye.
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And as of right now, there's no timeline for when Manal is going
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to come back. And again, there aren't many
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details from around the situation, but it is very weird
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for her to be on hiatus and for them to put the only black girl
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on hiatus. And it's not just that.
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And I could already hear the combats from like all the rage
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baders being like, why are you making this about race?
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Well, here's the thing. And again, when I say all this,
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I'm not talking about any of the other members of Cat's Eye.
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I love all of them. And I don't think that this is
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this has anything to do with them specifically as much as it
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has to do with the parent companies and the people in
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control of the group. There's been a long time
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concerted effort to sort of minimize or not highlight Manol
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as much as possible In their first song debut for the
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entirety of the music video, they intentionally tried to hide
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Manol as much as possible behind the other members of the group
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to the point where like you could barely even recognize
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Manol was in the video. And they've done a lot of
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similar stuff with some photos that they take where they will
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intentionally cover up pictures of Manol to essentially what
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feels like soft launch a group of five instead of a group of 6.
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And that is just generally weird, especially given the fact
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that from from the band's perspective, Manol is definitely
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one of the most popular. And the situation has generally
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gotten so weird, especially from the inside out.
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One of the girls in the group's father, Daniella's father, after
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the news broke out, really weird on social media and their
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replies and and how he was talking about Manol and the
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whole situation. Again, just very odd.
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Saying things like we need girls who can grind cat size, the
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powerhouse The show must go on. Exclaiming that like 5 members
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are OK too instead of 6. Even going as far to talk about
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Manol specifically saying that she should come back back when
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she's ready to work, which insane.
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And I think this is very odd coming from the dad of one of
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the girls. Like for one you should know
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better than to say some stuff like this because this looks bad
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on your daughter and just generally the group and like
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what was the goal in saying way? Y'all are eating up Danielle's
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dad under his Instagram. Thank you guys Manal we love you
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forever and always. Black queen always.
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Why? Who he thought he was?
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Comments in that under that post about the girl.
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Are you serious knowing that last week they were hating on
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your daughter? So you prefer another member to
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suffer with more hate and a parent from the group comments
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and such hateful things the show must.
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Go on. And this just generally opens a
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bigger conversation around what one of my mutual Simone so
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intelligently put as the consistent problem with the lone
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black girl and girl groups, because this has historical
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precedent. You've been following Cats eyes
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since they started back in 2023 at Pop Star Academy.
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You know that Mano has been subjected to the most abhorrent
7:39
hate recently. In the last couple of weeks, she
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and Daniela, who are the two non Asian members of the group, have
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been subjecting to unspeakable rape.
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Like, again, just thinking about how the black girls were treated
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in the girl groups with Harmony and Little Mix and seeing
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similar things happen to Manol. I just don't like where this is
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going. And I think this should be a
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real reality check for Hive Geppen.
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Because if the Internet response isn't clear enough, you can't
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just go ahead and and do some stuff like this and think
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nothing's going to happen or nothing's going to change.
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Like you even got artists like Scissor coming out and being
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like, hey, girl, Manol, we love you.
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Like, like we really can't be doing this.
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But now it's pivot into something a little bit more
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serious and that has to do with the Michael B Jordan Orlando of
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it all that happened at the Baptist the other day.
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So again, if you aren't familiar, both Michael B Jordan
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and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award, the first award at the
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Baptist. This was literally the top of
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the show. And as they were presenting the
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award, you can hear in the background someone screaming out
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the N word with the hard R at them.
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And I think they both handled the situation with grace.
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And it's really sad that they have to handle things with grace
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and that they're applauded for that.
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And the Baptist kind of just let it air.
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They didn't edit it out. They didn't really do any sort
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of chops. They just left it in there and
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kept it rolling. Normally this would be a quick
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conversation over like condemning someone and kicking
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whoever said that out and just healing that quickly because
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racism. But this conversation is a
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little bit more nuanced because the person who screamed the N
9:00
word at them does deal with Tourette's syndrome.
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And apparently the N word is one of his ticks, right?
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And the person who shot at this was John Davidson, who was also
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there that night because he was the real life person who
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inspired the film, I swear, which was also nominated that
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night and was a movie advocating for and giving awareness to
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Tourette syndrome and life with it.
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And I think that's where the conversation gets really
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nuanced. And I do want to disclaim before
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we move forward that this whole situation is not a open door for
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ableism. And I don't want to see that in
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the comments. But we do also have to have a
9:30
real conversation around racism because that also exists and
9:35
was, whether you want to claim it or not, on full display last
9:38
night. And the Internet is really split
9:39
around the situation because you have some people saying that it
9:41
was wrong for Davidson to be yelling out the N word at 2
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black people at an award show. Then you have other people
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coming to Davidson's defense saying that essentially being
9:49
ableist and telling people to just like, excuse it or pretend
9:52
like it didn't happen or like saying that they're making
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Davidson uncomfortable. And like, that supersedes the
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harm done to black men on screen.
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What I. Do hate.
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And what I'm seeing is that people online are throwing out
10:03
ableism to disregard the actions of John Davidson, to disregard
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the respect and dignity of Michael B Jordan and the Delroy
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Lindo, and to say at the expense of these two black men, this
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white man disability can throw out slurs.
10:21
And again, I want to reiterate, this is a very nuanced
10:23
conversation, but where I follow in this conversation is just
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generally that like, nothing gives you an excuse to be
10:29
racist. And I don't know if that's
10:31
radical to say like disability does not give you an excuse to
10:34
be racist in the same way that race does not give you an excuse
10:38
to be ableist. Like, you know, that's
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intersectionality. And I think that the
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conversation is very weird around this because when we want
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to have a conversation around humanity and who was afforded
10:46
humanity conversation that are imploring people to give more
10:49
humanity towards Davidson for having an outburst that is
10:52
uncontrollable is really interesting to me.
10:54
Because by saying that you're essentially putting one persons
10:57
humanity in, if you want to go there, one white man's humanity
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over the humanity and safety of two black men that were real
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world affected and essentially dehumanize publicly on on live
11:08
camera, on national TV, actually international TV, because Baftas
11:12
are British and the world is just supposed to be OK with
11:14
that. Like no, no, like there's just
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no world where that's OK. And I'm not saying this for like
11:19
all situations, but in the case of this, if this was a
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possibility, if this is like a known possibility to happen,
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there should have been one ample briefing so that everyone in the
11:26
room knows that this is a possibility.
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And or two, you shouldn't have set up either party to be in the
11:32
situation because, yeah, it's making both parties unsafe by
11:35
being there because most importantly, it's incredibly
11:37
disrespectful and incredibly unsafe to have two black men
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being yelled the N word at them at an award show.
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And not just those two black men, but every single black
11:45
person in that room. And as we'll get into in a
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little bit, this isn't the only time that that happened that
11:50
night. And it's also unsafe for
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Davidson because as with most ticks with Tourette syndrome,
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like they're not controllable. So I'm sure that's embarrassing
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for him. Again, not that his potential
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embarrassment supersedes the real life effects of being
12:01
slurred at publicly. And I think what's really
12:02
pitiful about this whole situation is that there was a
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piss, piss, piss, piss poor apology after the fact by the
12:08
people at the Baftas where they apologize to the audience for
12:12
potentially maybe sometimes over a blue moon, if you squint, turn
12:16
around and do a backflip of being maybe sometimes offended
12:19
by what happened. Yet there was no acknowledgement
12:21
to Michael B Jordan or Delroy Lindo, the people that were
12:25
actually slurred against by the Baftas, by Davidson, as far as I
12:28
know, or pretty much anyone for being disrespected, being
12:31
slurred against publicly. Like I'm I'm just, I like I keep
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reiterating that because that is so wild to me.
12:36
And I really think that that speaks to how Black is seen in
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Hollywood because it really just shows that it doesn't matter how
12:41
successful you are. It doesn't matter how much money
12:43
you have, how talented you are, how much you are recognized and
12:46
revered in your industry. At the end of the day, there's
12:49
always going to be something or someone to remind you that in
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spite of it all, you are still black.
12:55
And because of that, you will still never be enough.
12:57
And I think that that is so disheartening because, you know,
13:00
if you're a Black person living in America, that is nothing new
13:02
to you. That is historically how it's
13:04
been. But entertainment has always
13:06
been seen as like this form of escapism and seen as like this
13:09
ideal life where you see all the glitz, you see all the glam,
13:12
you're able to be transported into whatever world or whatever
13:15
fantasy you want to be in. And we've gotten back to the
13:18
point where even in that form of escapism or these spaces where
13:21
you're supposed to think that things are progressing and that
13:23
there is a level of status there, that stuff like this
13:27
still can and will happen. And the resounding fact that
13:30
even in those instances, you still, as a black person will
13:34
not be acknowledged for the transgressions against you.
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Like, insane. The fact that those two men were
13:39
not apologized to directly and immediately after this whole
13:42
situation happened speaks volumes.
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Speaks volumes. And I think the public response
13:46
to this is also just like, so insane when it comes to the
13:48
intersection around the conversation of disability.
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Because yes, Tourette syndrome is a very serious disability and
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something that should not be taken light of, made fun of, and
13:55
should be held and handled. The level of care and respect.
13:57
And that care and respect does work both ways.
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Oh. One more thing.
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This is also part of the reason why I don't.
14:04
I don't really, I'm not with disability inclusion.
14:08
Like just having disabled people in the room and talking about
14:10
disability for the non disabled gays and simultaneously those
14:15
non disabled people putting me in a position that actively can
14:18
cause me harm. Sorry, because everybody thinks
14:22
it's all fine and good to have a disabled person in the room
14:24
until it actually comes to advocating for disabled people
14:27
and talking about disability in ways that do not make me look
14:32
pitiful. We shouldn't pick and choose who
14:33
has afforded grace in humanity, nor should we be weighing them
14:36
against each other, which is why I think this whole discourse is
14:38
just so frustrating and so infuriating because that's
14:41
exactly what's happening. At the end of the day, at least
14:43
two people were slurred against. And I say at least because
14:47
allegedly, according to Sinner's costume designer who was there,
14:49
that was not the only time nor the only people that were
14:53
directly slurred against that night.
14:55
In fact, allegedly there were multiple black people that were
14:57
slurred against. I thought I was done talking
14:59
about this for the night, but this situation has gotten so
15:01
much worse. Hannah Beechler, who's the
15:03
production designer on the centers who was at the Bafta's
15:05
tonight, has confirmed that the incident regarding the slur with
15:09
John Davidson was not the only occurrence.
15:12
She posted this thread onto Twitter.
15:14
I keep trying to write about what happened at the Bafta's and
15:17
I can't find the words. The situation is almost
15:19
impossible, but it happened three times that night and one
15:23
of the three times was directed at myself on the way to dinner
15:25
after the show and a third time not a black woman.
15:28
I understand and deeply know why this is an impossible situation.
15:31
I know we must handle this with grades and continue to push
15:34
through. But what made the situation
15:35
worse was the throwaway apology of if you were offended at the
15:38
end of the show. Of course we're offended, but
15:41
our frequency and our spiritual vibration is tuned to a higher
15:44
level than what happened. I am not steal.
15:48
This did not bounce off me, but I exist above it.
15:51
It can't take away from who I am as an artist.
15:53
And that just isn't OK for so many different reasons.
15:55
And the way that we as Black people are just expected to turn
15:57
the other cheek is insane if I'm being completely honest.
16:01
Because at the end of the day, intent does not matter.
16:03
I'll say it again, when it comes to slurs, especially slurs like
16:06
that coming from a white man to black people, intent of saying
16:11
the slur does not matter because the impact is already felt.
16:14
And the fact that that is made more complicated and more
16:16
convoluted than it needs to be is telling.
16:19
And again, speaks to the value that Hollywood entertainment in
16:22
the world at large has for black creatives, black people and just
16:26
blackness in general. There needs to be a very public
16:29
and very intentional and direct apology to Michael B Jordan, to
16:32
Delroy Lindo, to all the people that were called the hard are
16:35
that night, as well as to everyone in that room and
16:37
everyone listening because that's not OK.
16:39
And I think to zoom out for the entire scope of this video
16:42
talking about like the mono situation, talking about the
16:44
Michael B Jordan situation is that we're reminded that to be
16:46
black in the public eye is to be publicly devalued and
16:49
disrespected and to just be expected to smile through it
16:52
all. I think Michael B Jordan and
16:53
Delroy Lindo's face while they're being called the N word
16:56
is just so telling because you can tell that it's impacting
16:58
them. You can see the shock behind
17:00
their eyes, but these smiles do not fade and the show does not
17:03
stop. And I think that that is the
17:04
perfect example of what it's like to not only be Black in
17:07
entertainment, but just to be Black in general in a world
17:10
without seen as a threat and as not good enough.
17:12
And I think all that has happened over the past few days
17:14
is definitely a wake up call, not only to Black people as a
17:16
reminder of who we are and what we're dealing with, but also
17:20
hopefully to everyone else as a reminder to do better.