This year, I'm interested in more radio, podcast & moderating opportunities. If you're a radio/podcast producer looking for someone to discuss culture news, new movies/TV, etc.; or a publicist or film programmer looking for a NYC-based moderator for post-screening Q&As: email me!
Just a reminder that we've been through 15 months of trauma, so be kind to people who might continue to wear masks out of an abundance of caution and safety, and are very slowly tiptoeing back into the world. (Hi, it's me, a person with anxiety.)
Jimmy Fallon's staff found out this morning that after Friday, they're being put on an "unpaid leave of absence" as the
#WGAStrike
continues, while other late night hosts are reportedly continuing to keep their staff paid, sources tell me
Andrew Yang says to combat racism, it's on us Asian Americans "to embrace and show our American-ness in ways we never have before."
1. It's not.
2. For generations, we've been asked to "prove our American-ness," yet we continue to be seen as "other."
Viola Davis has now been the lead of two movies by Black directors that were egregiously completely shut out at the Oscars: The Woman King and Widows (I am still mad about Widows all these years later).
I wrote about the strange choice on
#AndJustLikeThat
to tiptoe around abortion, not even saying the word out loud. It's a missed opportunity, given the need for a wider range of abortion stories on TV — and it's so out of step with the original series!
This week, a lot of Asian American journalists, scholars, etc. will likely be asked to pitch in on their newsroom’s coverage, weigh in on this on TV, etc. Please remember to give people grace because it’s exhausting to have to do this every time our communities are in the news.
Breaking: Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport has resigned after a photo of him wearing brownface resurfaced and several of the magazine’s few staffers of color publicly called on him to resign
New this morning: in the top-grossing movies of 2019, over 25% of Asian & Pacific Islander characters were dead by the end of the movie — one of a slew of harmful tropes that Hollywood perpetuates on screen, per a new study by
@nancywyuen
@inclusionists
From me on this emotional night: I tried to sum up what Michelle Yeoh's win (and the EEAAO
#Oscars
sweep) means, and how these landmark moments come with a mixed bag of emotions: celebrating the wins — but also wondering why they took so damn long.
Where we are right now: the company that makes Lysol issued this statement: "We must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body through injection, ingestion or any other route."
Seeing a lot of news outlets posting new job listings for early-career fellowships to "amplify marginalized and underrepresented voices" — but after, are you going to hire them full-time and invest in their careers?
Fallon faced criticism at the start of the strike on May 2, when the show’s staffers heard they were only going to get paid through the end of the week and receive health insurance through the end of May. By the next day, he reversed course.
At least 5 recent Jeopardy! champions eligible for the show's upcoming Tournament of Champions have announced they won't cross the WGA picket line, in solidarity with the show's writers, if the strike continues into the fall
"They can't get enough of it."
Of course reality show president thinks this is some kind of reality show we're all binge-watching...rather than a pandemic that is killing people.
"I'm sure people are enjoying it. I will say this: It's an incredibly dark topic, an incredibly horrible topic, and it's incredibly interesting. That's why everybody is going crazy, they're going crazy, they can't get enough of it" -- Trump 😳
His advice reinforces the model minority trope: we should just work hard, don't complain too much, etc. How has that worked out? We've been socially conditioned to NOT speak out about racism, minimize it, question it when it happens to us — when we should be doing the opposite.
I feel like I tweet this every time there's a media layoffs bloodbath (too many times), but there's gotta be a better way to make this industry sustainable for more people. The default cannot be: "Welcome to media! You will probably be laid off some day!"
As many as 100 employees at Hachette, the publishing house which is releasing Woody Allen's memoir, walked out yesterday in support of Dylan and Ronan Farrow, the latter of whom cut ties with the company, which also published Catch & Kill
New this morning: as companies like Warner Bros. Discovery & Netflix make significant cuts, it could set back years of progress on diversity, as executives often see diversity as expendable rather than essential, the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report warns
.
@TheOnion
homepage right now consists entirely of their "'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens" stories they've published countless times
Wrote about the disappointment and anticlimactic ending of the Jeopardy! host saga. Regardless of what went on behind the scenes, it's a real bad look for the show. (Also, justice for LeVar.)
Among the many things I keep thinking about re:
@moryan
's searing piece on the Lost writers room: as viewers, we notice when, say, characters of color are getting the shaft. Even if we don't know the full behind-the-scenes story, we see what results from it, and we do not forget!
Vanity Fair's great Hollywood issue is out today. The diversity of stars featured is really jarring when compared to, uh, some events yesterday. So many of these actors should have (and could have!) gotten nominated! They were right there!
Please, I beg of you, awards show producers: stop playing off the winners' speeches! It deprives the winners of their big, once-in-a-lifetime moments, and us viewers of great moments of spontaneity.
Solidarity with BuzzFeed News, Complex, &
@bfnewsunion
. Sick to my stomach. Working in digital media is this endlessly demoralizing cycle of talented journalists losing their jobs because of some mystery business model we're told will change things, but then leads to more cuts...
Don't know who needs to hear this, but not being able to go to a bar during a pandemic is not the same as the racist and xenophobic removal and detainment of more than 100,000 Americans
New: After at least 7 recent Jeopardy! champions said they would not cross the WGA picket line to participate in the show’s annual Tournament of Champions, producers now say the tournament is delayed.
A new Trump ad falsely implies former Washington governor and U.S. ambassador to China Gary Locke is a Chinese government official. I wrote about why this reinforces an insidious pattern that's all too familiar for Asian Americans
Almost exactly 3 months after police killed Breonna Taylor, they finally released their incident report.
It's basically blank. Under "injuries," it falsely claims Taylor — who was shot at least 8 times & died in a pool of blood on her floor — had "none."
For our series on the 9/11 anniversary, I went to the 9/11 Museum + talked to scholars who've studied it about its bevy of problems — its patriotic framing, Islamophobic rhetoric, commercialism, etc. — and how it has become more glaring as the years pass
"Trump is the first president in 131 years to carry out a federal execution after losing reelection. The people his administration has targeted for death are disproportionately Black."
🚨 If you didn't get a chance to see it in theaters, the National Theatre Live recording of Phoebe Waller-Bridge performing the original stage version of Fleabag is streaming on Amazon starting Friday for $5!!!!! All proceeds go to charity.
Warner Bros. Discovery: $50 million in streaming profits, 1.5 million new subscribers
Apple: $20.9 billion in revenue for its services division, incl. Apple TV+
Paramount: 4.1 million new Paramount+ subscribers, 50% growth in subscription revenue
On NBC, PA Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman just said "the president can sue a ham sandwich. He can send a thousand lawyers to Pennsylvania, but that's not going to change... Math doesn't care what your feelings are."
I wrote about the empty spectacle of The Idol and how vaguely circling around some topics does not make a show. For a show that's actually has something to say about celebrity and power, might I suggest I Hate Suzie?
When the cast of Selma wore "I Can't Breathe" shirts in memory of Eric Garner, Oscars voters complained they were "stirring shit." Sadly not surprised, given that 4 years later, those voters gave best picture to...Green Book.
Background actors are essential to your favorite shows & movies, making scenes feel real. As many of them told me, the
#SAGStrike
is a crucial fight, as Hollywood's AI future is jeopardizing their livelihoods and the robust community of background actors.
TBS canceling Full Frontal leaves Amber Ruffin as the only woman currently hosting a late night talk show — an absolutely absurd state of affairs in the late night TV world, which has been very white and male for far too long
Had a nice long chat with
@julianacanfield
about all things Jess: why Mencken's "election" was the final straw, the kickass things Jess will do now that she's free, the emotional
#Succession
cast finale watch party, and much more:
Loved talking with
@nataliegold
about Rava's heroic reserve of patience, what she makes of that bombshell about the kids, the cast being as stunned as we were by the finale, and how none of
#Succession
would be possible without the incredible writers
Cousin Greg screaming "NO COMMENT! NO COMMENT!" and Karolina quietly telling him: "you don't have to say that, Greg. Just don't comment." Damn, I've missed this show so much.
Asian Americans: wondering if you've started (or attempted to start) a conversation with your Asian family members and/or friends about anti-Blackness in our communities. Would love to speak with you for a potential story. Email: marina.fang
@huffpost
.com
Anna May Wong used to lament that "when I die, my epitaph should be: 'I died a thousand deaths,'" referring to the many times her characters were killed off in her movies. Unfortunately, it's still a relevant sentiment for API actors today.
Every day, our industry loses talented people because some executive wouldn't take a pay cut. And the inherent instability effectively bars a lot of people from even being able to consider journalism as a career. No wonder our industry has diversity problems.
The legendary James Hong on how The Good Earth cast white actors in yellowface because studio execs claimed: "Asians are not good enough, and they are not box office. BUT LOOK AT US NOW, HUH????" (You gotta look up his filmography, everyone.)
I wrote about
#Succession
, mass layoffs, & how the last 2 episodes remind us: a lot of costly decisions — putting countless jobs & livelihoods at stake, & shaping what we read, watch & consume — are made by rich white men just making it up as they go along
This email from the VP of "risk management": “It is unfortunate that you & your son had a bad experience at our Gritty Photo Event. Therefore, we are offering an opportunity to discuss a creative way to restore your son’s love of the Philadelphia Flyers.”
On the red carpet, Sheryl Lee Ralph was one of the few celebrities to acknowledge the fraught nature of this year's Golden Globes and the diversity and ethics scandals
Up until tonight, only ONE (1) woman of color had won Best Actress (Halle Berry 21 years ago, who remains, embarrassingly, the only Black woman ever to win). In a nice nod to that history, she presented the Oscar to Yeoh tonight.
Michelle Williams: "Women, age 18 to 118, when it comes time to vote, vote with your own self-interest. It is what men have been doing for years. That's why the world looks like it does now."
#GoldenGlobes
I wrote about how removing blackface episodes & pledging to not cast white actors to voice characters of color are empty gestures that don't get at the real problems — esp. in Hollywood, where this public reckoning over racism has been happening FOR YEARS.
Ke Huy Quan being the 1st Asian actor to win his
#SAGAwards
category & his whole comeback are proof of both the progress for Asian American actors — and the frustration that it has taken this long, and that in a just world, he would have always been a star
Was not expecting Stevie Nicks responding to Christine McVie's death by writing Haim's Hallelujah on lined paper to make me tear up today, but here we are.
I talked with Asian Americans about the ways they're trying to confront anti-Black racism in our own families and communities. For those of you grappling with how to do so, I hope this at least gives you a bit of support or helps plant the seed.
This study is a reminder that even when Asian & Pacific Islander characters do appear on screen, it's often in stereotypical ways: dying violent deaths, the perpetual foreigner, women as hypersexualized, men as emasculated/having no romantic life, etc.
Really alarming new stats about anti-Asian racism in America from
@StopAAPIHate
, which has collected this data since last March: 3,795 reports of racist incidents as of Feb. 28, including 503 incidents since the start of the year, in all 50 states + D.C.
New this morning:
@StopAAPIHate
got 2,478 reports of anti-Asian racism between April & June, bringing the total number of incidents reported since March 2020 to 9,081. It's a reminder that as the pandemic drags on, Asian Americans are still being attacked.
There's so much to digest and savor in
#Beef
, which is out today. I wrote about the central question that seems to be driving Ali Wong & Steven Yeun's characters, and what it says about the limits of immigrant striving & the rat race of capitalism.
Also in 2019, 41.8% of API characters faced some kind of disparagement or harassment in their movies, which is particularly alarming in a time when Asian Americans are facing a surge in racist violence because of the COVID-19 pandemic.