Black actors condemn racist attacks on West End's new Juliet
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who was recently cast as Juliet in an upcoming West End production of Romeo & Juliet, was subjected to online harassment. The Jamie Lloyd Company announced that Amewudah-Rivers will star alongside Tom Holland's Romeo last month. In response to the online abuse, a group of prominent Black actors has now allied behind Amewudah-Rivers. They've signed an open letter condemning the attacks. Here's what happened.
Open letter criticized 'twisted ugly abuse' aimed at Amewudah-Rivers
The open letter lambasted the "racist and misogynistic abuse" aimed at Amewudah-Rivers. "The racist and misogynistic abuse directed at such a sweet soul has been too much to bear." "For a casting announcement of a play to ignite such twisted ugly abuse is truly embarrassing," the letter stated, adding, "Too many times, Black performers—particularly Black actresses—are left to face the storm of online abuse after committing the crime of getting a job on their own."
These Black actors rallied in support of the young actor
Per The Guardian newspaper, the open letter—organized by Enola Homes's Susan Wokoma and writer Somalia Nonyé Seaton—garnered support from 883 individuals. Notable signatories of the letter include Sheila Atim from The Woman King, Marianne Jean-Baptiste known for Secrets & Lies, Lolly Adefope from Ghosts, Freema Agyeman of Doctor Who fame, Wunmi Mosaku from Damilola, Our Loved Boy, and Tamara Lawrance featured in Time.
'Black women performers who face this—We see you...'
Further, the letter stated, "We want to send a clear message to Francesca and all Black women performers who face this kind of abuse—we see you." "We see the art you manage to produce with not only the pressures that your white colleagues face but with the added traumatic hurdle of misogynoir." Earlier, the Jamie Lloyd Company publicly denounced racial abuse, referring to the harassment as a "barrage of deplorable racial abuse."
Amewudah-Rivers disabled comments on the original post
The online harassment began shortly after Amewudah-Rivers announced her casting in the play on Instagram. However, her post was met with a barrage of racist remarks questioning her suitability for the role. In response, the actor disabled comments on the original post. Despite this action, racist insults persisted in a subsequent post promoting the play. The Romeo & Juliet stageplay is scheduled to premiere on May 11 and run until August 3 at the Duke of York's Theater in London.
