Shia LaBeouf accused of “brownface” in his upcoming feature film
Shia LaBeouf is facing a casting backlash over the weekend after the trailer for the upcoming feature film ‘The Tax Collector' hit the Internet. Shia plays the role of Creeper, a crime boss who has to collect taxes from other criminal organizations in the Los Angeles area. Many quickly noticed Shia is possibly performing in “Brownface” by being a white guy play a Hispanic character.
“@DavidAyerMovies Hey, really important question that I think you should answer publicly in 2020. Is Shia Lebouf playing a Latino character in Tax Collector? If so, why didn't you cast a Latin actor?” A user on Twitter asked.
“Really important answer – Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood. This is a Jewish dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie,” Ayer said in response. He elaborated further as a “whiteboy” who “grew up hood.”
“Chicano culture is inclusive – I've seen whiteys, Asians, Blacks, Filipinos all putting in work for the hood. It's part of street culture,” he continued before adding that he's portraying “LA Hood shit” with his latest film. He later clarified that it's not necessarily Chicano culture rather than LA street culture. “Yeah as I typed it I was like dang. Yep it's LA street culture. Everyone shows up. Everyone puts in work.”
Check out the trailer for the movie below:
In relevant news, Halle Berry announced via Twitter on Monday saying she is no longer playing a transgender man in an upcoming movie role. Berry opened up about the movie role in an interview via Instagram Live.
Berry said: “[It's] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she's a woman that transitioned into a man. She's a character in a project I love that I might be doing … Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project.”
After a public backlash, she announced she will not be playing the character in the film.
“As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories,” she wrote on Twitter.
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