racism

Idris Elba Explains Why He’s Not Interested In Playing James Bond

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Playing James Bond is considered one of the most prestigious roles in Hollywood. Just seven actors have played the iconic British spy since he was brought to the big screen in 1962. When each Bond retires, there is a wave of speculation on who might play him next. Given his veteran presence in the acting world, Idris Elba has not been immune to this speculation.

After Daniel Craig made it clear that he was done with Bond after SPECTRE, Elba’s name was one of several seen as a serious contender to fill the role. While Craig would return for No Time To Die, Elba was still viewed as a favorite to take up the mantle in the future. However, in a new interview with the SmartLess podcast, Elba has explained why he’s no longer interested in playing 007.

Racism Steered Elba Away From Bond

Idris Elba at the 2023 Met Gala
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 01: Idris Elba attends the 2023 Met Gala Celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty” at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 01, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Elba was initially excited about the speculation. “The truth is, I was super complimented for a long time about this,” Elba admitted. “I was like, ‘This is cr*zy!’ James Bond…We’re all actors and we understand that role. It’s one of those coveted [roles]. Being asked to be James Bond was like, ‘Ok, you’ve sort of reached the pinnacle’. That’s one of those things the whole world has a vote in.” However, the subsequent racist backlash inevitably moved Elba away from playing the character. “Essentially, it was a huge compliment that every corner of the world except from some corners, which we will not talk about, were really happy about the idea that I could be considered,” Elba explained.

“Those that weren’t happy about the idea made the whole thing disgusting and off-putting, because it became about race. It became about nonsense and I got the brunt of it.” Elba’s views were somewhat validated by the latest Bond film to date, No Time To Die. The film, which featured Lashana Lynch as an MI6 agent who is briefly assigned the 007 moniker, received considerable backlash from those same people about making James Bond a black woman (which the film doesn’t do in the slightest).

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Trick Daddy Shares His Thoughts On Racism

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Trick Daddy recently appeared on Revolt’s Big Facts where he discussed the Black experience in America. He offered his opinions on improving communities, family life, racial injustice, and more. “I’m tired of n***as playing the race card when it comes to everything,” he begins.

Trick Daddy then describes feeling as though problems within the Black community are caused or perpetuated by other people in the community. “N***as is other n***as only problem,” he explained, “Them crackers ain’t thinking about us.” He continues, “Every time we get a few dollars we run to them crackas stores and spend our money.” “Everybody ain’t thinking ’bout us. They don’t get money and come spend money with us,” Trick Daddy claims. He also went on to talk about the “street game and the dope game,” claiming that it funds hip hop. “That’s no secret,” he says, “But we’re trying to do something right with the money so let us do it.”

Read More: Trick Daddy Talks About Eating A** During Cooking Show

Trick Daddy Discusses “Playing The Race Card”

 He went on to cite parenting as a major part of the problems he sees. “It’s our fault,” he says, “It’s our fault for not letting our kids appreciate things.” He goes on to reference his own upbringing, claiming that he believes parents should take a more traditional approach. “My mama never bought me a pair of tennis shoes over $30,” he explains, “We buy ’em Jordans.” Trick Daddy goes on to discuss relationships, claiming that people should start being more selective with those they choose to reproduce with.

“The average woman got two or three kids with two or three n***as,” he says, “every holiday the kids split up from their family.” He continues, “There’s no more tradition… Labor Day, Easter, Christmas, you know where you gone be at. There’s no more of that.” He then offers advise to those seeking partners, explaining, “We gotta stop having babies from hoes that ain’t baby mama material and they gotta stop having babies from n***as that ain’t baby daddy material.”

Read More: Uncle Murda Responds To Trick Daddy Calling Him A “Clown,” 50 Cent Chimes In

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“The Little Mermaid” Asian Box Office Slump Blamed On Racism

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Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has received a warm reception in the United States. Critics have received the film fairly warmly, and it holds a 67% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Furthermore, critics have praised the performance of Halle Bailey while noting that the film as a whole is a fairly bland and visually underwhelming remake. However, audiences have loved the film. The Little Mermaid holds a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has grossed $327 million worldwide.

However, the film has some underwhelming international markets, namely those in Asia. According to Endata, the film has grossed just $3.7 million in Mainland China, which counts as the second-largest box office in the world. Similarly, the film has grossed just $4.4 million in South Korea. Meanwhile, the film is yet to open in Japan but is expected to suffer from the same issues. Additionally, these muted figures have been attributed to a problem that has plagued the film time and time again.

Anti-Black Racism Blamed For “The Little Mermaid” Slump

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MAY 25: Halle Bailey greets fans during the Family and friends screening of The Little Mermaid at Regal Atlantic Station on May 25, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Joi Stokes/Getty Images For Disney)

China and South Korea both harbor long histories of racial discrimination. Anti-Black racism has been common in China since the 1970s, when the nation began its expansion of financial diplomacy into Africa. Furthermore, much like how the rest of the world blamed China for COVID-19, China in turn saw a spike in anti-Black discrimination. Meanwhile, South Korea is infamous for a culture of denying service to non-Koreans. Furthermore, research has shown that Black individuals are more likely to experience overt racism than white individuals.

These sentiments appear to be fueling the cold reception to The Little Mermaid. On the Chinese film review website Douban, users have rated the film as a 5.1 out of 10. Meanwhile, several reviews left on the review site and box office tracker Maoyan made direct and discriminatory references to Bailey’s skin color. Similar trends have been observed in South Korea, where the Instagram hashtag ‘NotMyAriel’ has trended numerous times. Furthermore, Japanese film-goers have also expressed a cool reception ahead of the film’s June 9 premiere.

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Black Mother Of Four Shot And Killed By Unidentified White Neighbor In Florida, No Arrest Made

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Screen Shot 2023 06 06 at 9.29.50 AM

Several reports have confirmed that a Black mother of four children, all under the age of 12, was shot and killed by white woman over a verbal dispute. The alleged shooter has yet to be identified, charged or arrested.

Ajike “AJ” Owens, 35, was approached by the unidentified white woman, who began hurling racial slurs at Owens and her children as they played in a field near their home in Ocala, Florida. According to reports, the children realized that they left an iPad near the field, which the white woman stole from the field. When the children went back to retrieve the iPad, the woman threw the iPad, breaking the screen. When Owens went to the home of the woman to talk to her to get her children’s iPad back, she was shot and killed through her neighbor’s door.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods refused to give the same account of what happened between the neighbors, saying that the shooting appeared to be the culmination of a feud between the neighbors. He also stated that sheriff’s deputies had to be called to the address six to eight times in less than three years.

“Somebody threw something at my child, I’d be pissed off,” he said. “What parent wouldn’t be? Who wouldn’t be upset at that, regardless of whether they intentionally threw it at them or not? I wish our shooter would have called us instead of taking actions into our own hands. I wish Mrs Owens had called us in the hopes we could have never got to the point in which we are here today.”

Sheriff Woods did not identify the shooter’s name, age or race, but added she was being “cooperative”.

Woods said the investigation, when complete, would be presented to the Marion County State Attorney’s office, which would decide if charges will be filed.

The post Black Mother Of Four Shot And Killed By Unidentified White Neighbor In Florida, No Arrest Made appeared first on The Source.

WWE & Vince McMahon Being Sued Over Racist Scripts

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Vince McMahon and the WWE made massive waves recently. McMahon sold the WWE to Endeavor for billions of dollars. Endeavor will now be the home of the biggest professional wrestling show. As well as the biggest MMA show on the planet with the UFC. The sale of the WWE was somewhat of a shock to those who follow professional wrestling. Many around the industry felt that McMahon would never sell the company. However, recent accusations of McMahon’s misconduct allegations had forced the wrestling titan to retire. But now, McMahon is being accused of bringing racist storylines into the company.

According to a report from Bloomberg Law, former WWE writer Britnet Abrahams is suing the company for racist content in past scripts. An excerpt from the report states, “World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., McMahon, and other executives allegedly discriminated and retaliated against a Black female writer for objecting to offensively racist and stereotypical jargon used in the scripts of Black wrestlers including Bianca Belair and Apollo Crews, according to a new lawsuit. She was allegedly subject to a number of racist pitches after complaining. On a Slack thread that McMahon and his daughter Stephanie McMahon were included in, other writers suggested a Black male wrestler should dress in drag. Only when a White writer noted that doing so could perpetuate harmful stereotypes that would offend viewers.”

The WWE has long been known to push the boundaries of what is appropriate for television. The company’s most successful years, known as the Attitude Era, was a time when anything went for the show. Meanwhile, in a backstage segment in the early 00s, the McMahon character could be heard saying a racial slur to John Cena during a live broadcast. Included in the report is also the story of the WWE pitching a story that a Muslin superstar’s on-screen character would reveal he was being the 9/11 attacks.

The latest news can’t be exactly what the new owners of the WWE wanted to see. However, McMahon has returned to the WWE since the sale to Endeavor. In an interview discussing the sale, McMahon mentioned his return. However, the former owner claims that he will not be involved in the creative of the company as he previously was. However, the WWE has yet to comment on the report involving the company and Vince McMahon. For the latest updates on this story and other breaking news in sports, keep it right here with HNHH.

Halle Bailey’s “The Little Mermaid” Doll Leaves Actress Emotional

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In recent years, Disney has been furiously announcing and releasing live-action remakes of animated classics, even opting to modernize some of them with more diverse casting choices. 2020 brought about Mulan, and the following two years gave us both Cruella and Pinocchio. Up next on the list are fan favourites such as Peter Pan & Wendy, and The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey in the leading role.

While Ariel is traditionally depicted as a fair-skinned, blue-eyed mermaid with bright red hair, producers are switching things up this time around. The R&B songstress, who’s best known for her vocal talents, perfectly captures the character’s singing voice, and she held on to some of the original’s appearance by colouring her long, wavy locs a ginger colour. As the movie’s May 26th premiere date nears, Bailey’s excitement is growing more and more.

Halle’s The Little Mermaid Doll

In her most recent Instagram upload, she gets emotional while revealing The Little Mermaid doll designed to look like her. “This means so much to me and to have one that looks like me, that’s my favourite Disney character, is very surreal,” the 22-year-old gushed to the camera on Monday (March 6). “The little girl in me is pinching herself right now.”

The emotion was evident in Bailey’s face and voice as she spoke. “I am literally choking up because this means so much to me,” the actress said. “And look – she even has my mole! Look! And the hair, and the tail… And it can be in water!” she excitedly added. “I’m just stunned, so I don’t quite know what to do with it but I’m going to steal this and take it home and hide it forever.”

Disney Faces Racist Backlash

Halle Bailey attends D23 Expo 2022 at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on September 09, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Halle Bailey’s excitement and happiness are shining so bright that it’s hard to dim, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t those out there trying. The Atlanta native has heard constant criticism from racists upset with Disney’s decision to cast Ariel as a Black woman, not to mention the complaints about Peter Pan & Wendy. Another young woman of colour, Yara Shadidi, is facing similar backlash for accepting the role of Tinkerbell, who’s also usually white. Read what Twitter has been saying about that here, and check back later for more pop culture news updates.

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