John Leguizamo Accuses Hollywood Of Cultural Apartheid, Boycotts Emmys

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John Leguizamo Accuses Hollywood Of Cultural Apartheid, Boycotts Emmys

John Leguizamo boycotts the Emmys over the lack of Latinx nominees at this year's awards ceremony, saying Hollywood enforces cultural apartheid. Leguizamo is probably best known for voicing Sid the Sloth in the Ice Age franchise, but also has a long career as both a stand-up comic and a dramatic actor. He's worked with a diverse range of directors, from fellow New Yorker Spike Lee (Summer of Sam) to Australian Baz Lurhmann (Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge!). He's also appeared in the John Wick franchise as Aurelio, the owner of the chop shop where Wick's car is taken.

Additionally, he's an accomplished theater actor, having won Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. Leguizamo's latest project, the Miami-based chess drama Critical Thinking, was released on VOD earlier this month, marking just the second directorial effort for the actor, following 2003's Undefeated. Leguizamo is outspoken about his Latin roots, having been born in Colombia, and penned an article in 2017 about the need for more Latinx superheroes, lamenting the lack of representation for the minority in popular culture. And that's the reason he won't be tuning into this weekend's socially distance Emmy Awards ceremony.

Speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, Leguizamo revealed that he's boycotting the ceremony over its lack of representation. Saying that there's "no point" in watching the awards because there are no Latin people nominated, Leguizamo goes on to say that despite making up a large proportion of the US population, less than 1% of the stories on screen are about Latin people. He adds that the situation is a form of cultural apartheid, referring to the racist and oppressive system of government in South Africa that sought to divide the country by race. You can read his full comments on the matter below:

I'm boycotting. If you don't have Latin people there's no reason for me to see it. What's the point? I'm just dying to see positive Latin stories out there. I mean we've got millions of incredible historic figures, contributions, struggles in America for 500 years. We've got a plethora of stories. I wanna see just a couple! It's crazy, we're 50% of the population of Los Angeles, and less than 3% of the faces in front of the camera. Less than 2% of the faces behind the camera, less than 1% of the stories being told by Hollywood streamers and networks. That's cultural apartheid. It's unbelievable that our stories aren't being told and there's only one reason for that and that's executives don't see us, don't get us, don't care about us. They're just not casting us, not telling out stories. It's not fair because we're 25% of the box office. It's not fair because we're 25% of the box office. I want 25% of those stories to be about Latinx people. It's just not ok to ignore us and exclude us. We're the biggest minority in the country.

Leguizamo isn't the only person to notice the lack of representation at this year's Emmys, with several people on Twitter also noting that there are no Latinx nominees. The difference is that, given his relatively high profile, Leguizamo's comments carry a bit more weight and are more likely to be noticed. Some Black stars have been nominated this year, including Watchmen's Regina King, as one three women of color nominated in the Best Actress in a limited series category.

But the lack of Latinx representation is noticeable. It proves that the TV world has a long way to go before it can genuinely represent the American population. As Leguizamo says, though, the fault lies at the root, with very few TV shows telling Latinx stories. Regardless, Leguizamo has chosen the Emmys to boycott, most likely as it will make the most impact, given the widespread appeal of the awards.