Amber Riley Comments on Lea Michele, White Actresses Terrorizing Black Co-Stars, & Intersectionality
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Talking protests, #blacklivesmatter, racism & more with @msamberpriley. Take note: this is the first and last time Amber will address the Lea Michele headlines. #exclusive #RealQuick #AmberPRiley
A post shared by Danielle Young (@thedanielleyoung) on Jun 3, 2020 at 8:05pm PDT
Amber appeared on Real Quick with Danielle Young where she talked about Black Lives Matter, racism, her activism, and more. When asked about Lea and the environment on Glee, this was her response and will be the first and last time she addresses it. (starts at 44 minute mark)
"We've already seen other people say that it was not the most comfortable environment. I will say that on behalf of Samantha Ware I am very proud of her standing up for herself. I Facetime'd and spoke to her. I'm proud of her not being fearful speaking her truth and if your feeling was I am not going to allow you to jump on what is happening now when you didn't treat me right.
Now what I will say is I am not going to say Lea Michele is racist. That’s not what I’m saying. That was the assumption because of what’s going on right now in the world, and it happened toward a Black person. I an not going to say that she’s racist. She’s also pregnant and I think that everybody needs to kind of chill. Y’all dragged her for a couple of days.
But at the same time, in my inbox there were a lot of Black actors and actresses that were in my inbox telling me their story and letting me know that they have dealt with the same things on set, and terrorized by the white girls that are the leads of the show because as we know a person of color or Black girl -- because those are two different things, but we can talk about that another time. I HATE when someone calls me a person of color. I am Black!
Anyways, we all know that a person of color and a Black person is always a sidekick is always number three, four, five, six, seven on a call sheet. Very rarely are they number one if it's not an all Black cast. So the stories I'm reading about how white women are using their privilege and the fact that they are not fireable, something that I've been told once on set after having my own complaints, they know that they're not fireable, and they use that privilege to terrorize their counterpart. And these networks don't have to give a fuck. These networks don't, they don't have to give a shit.
[interviewer cuts in with question about if Amber has ever been told she's unfireable]
Oh no. We were even told we were expendable. People of color, colored girls, Black girls. We're expendable. So like I'm saying I am talking about the culture of Hollywood right now and how they treat Black characters. Black Men, Black women. This is why Black women don't fuck with the Women's March, and this is why they don't fuck with that because even back in the day [goes on a tangent about FX's Mrs. America and how it told some of the truth] the Women's Rights Movement is very white, and did not include Black women and it needs - people need to start learning and understanding intersectionality. My experience as a Black woman is very different than your experience as a white woman. You have more privilege than I do. A Black trans woman's experience is very different than my experience as a Black woman because they are Black and they are trans. Intersectionality. We all deal with something different. And if we aren't speaking and walking in the same way, then we're never going to find freedom. We're never going to get to a place of peace if we're continuing to only fight for ourselves.
I had to check myself! I'm asking my white allies to speak out for Black Lives Matters, and some of them are part of the LGBTQ community, and what have I said about their issues? Some of them are trans women and what have I said about their issues? I'm still mad people aren't talking about Breonna Taylor. [talks about recently murdered black trans women who aren't being talked about] We all gotta call each other on our own bullshit. What I'm trying to do is help people understand that we need to love and support each other.
I'm going to say this, and it's going to be the end. I don't give a shit about this Lea Michele thing. I really don't give a fuck. I don't. I don't want to be asked about it. I don't give a shit. People are out here dying. Being murdered by police. Trans women are being murdered at the hands of men who are upset about being trans attracted. I don't give a shit about this Lea Michele thing. I wish Lea Michele well. I hope that she has an amazing pregnancy. I hope that she has grown, and she has understood [stream gets frozen] she put out, I didn't read it because i told y'all i don't give a shit about it. That's my hope and my prayer for her. She reached out to me. I responded to her and that's where it ends for me. I ain't talk to that girl in two years, you know what I'm saying. I have no hatred or ill will on that end, and I want to make that very clear. That my life and what I talk about is not going to be about that. I will shut it down immediately. This is the first and last time I'm going to say something. So you got the exclusive."
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