Issa Rae is calling it just like she sees it.
The Rap Sh!t creator is bringing attention to the double standards that exist in the entertainment industry.
In an interview with Elle, Rae said that the controversy surrounding actor Ezra Miller is representative of a “microcosm of Hollywood,” that continually protects repeat offenders.
“It feels like we’re regressing, depressingly so,” she said. “There are just too many enablers for there to be real change. People have to be held accountable. There have to be legitimate consequences. Hollywood is very bad about consequences.”
“While I don’t support people jumping to immediate conclusions and I think it’s entirely fair for investigations to happen, I think it’s extremely important to, like the mantra says, ‘Listen to women,’” she continued. “I’m gonna be real, the stuff that’s happening with Ezra Miller is, to me, a microcosm of Hollywood. There’s this person who’s a repeat offender, who’s been behaving atrociously, and as opposed to shutting them down and shutting the production down, there’s an effort to save the movie and them.”
Just this year, Miller was arrested twice in Hawaii for disorderly conduct and harassment and was also cited in Vermont with felony burglary. In 2020, video footage showed Miller choking a woman outside of a bar in Iceland. Despite all of these incidents, The Flash is still set for release in June 2023 from Warner Bros., with Miller in the starring role.
After the incidents, Miller released a statement saying “having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment.”
Rae argues that the culture in Hollywood makes it an uphill battle for women to excel in an industry where they are often forced to be silent and accept sexist behavior.
“That is a clear example of the lengths that Hollywood will go to to save itself and to protect offenders,” she argued. “So, don’t do that, and women may be able to thrive. They won’t have to live in fear of keeping silent because it’ll ruin their careers. It’s just a constant pattern of abuse that’ll only persist if Hollywood continues to insist on being this way.”
