Toronto: A few months ago, I wrote an article that spoke about racism within the entertainment business. Much to the chagrin of my publicist who thought I was committing career suicide by doing such a thing. Of course, now the world is fully engaged in the ‘systemic racism’ conversation, which exists in every sector, from housing, hiring practices and police brutality, because of the murder of George Floyd. In my first article, I insisted upon a change in the Canadian entertainment business. But it needs to go further than that. There needs to be a total overhaul of each sector, as the system was built to oppress others. Trying to ‘fix’ racism could be compared to putting a Band-Aid on a wound that is gushing buckets of blood. There can be no ‘fix’ of a system that still believes that there is nothing wrong, with only a few bad apples. Systemic racism also rears its ugly head in many other ways in the entertainment industry, often filling our own black minds with a feeling of not being good enough. Even worse, many of do not support our own, and this often comes from us unintentionally following the white man’s lead. We’ve been brainwashed to believe that we do not matter and that our stories are not good enough. Which leads to many of us being rejected by even our own supposed black counterparts.
Over the last few days, the entertainment world has been filled with the story involving black influencer Sasha Exeter and Jessica Mulroney, a television host, heir to the Browns Shoe Empire. Jessica Mulroney is also married to the son of a former Prime Minister, television host Ben Mulroney. To make this story even juicier, Jessica Mulroney is Meghan Markle’s best friend. This social media shitstorm could not have been more television-worthy if it had been penned by Shonda Rhimes, the Goddess television creator herself. In a nutshell, Exeter, a single mother, claims that Mulroney threatened her livelihood, after she posted a call to action for all social media users with a platform. Without getting into the nitty-gritty of the story, in a nutshell, Exeter accused Mulroney of using her perceived ‘white girl privilege” to come at her.
Since losing all of her contracts with major networks, including slots on ABC, CTV and others, Mulroney has gone into hiding. CTV has subsequently been doing backflips as they try to weather the storm, hurricane and tornado at the network. The other hosts are all torn, as they don't know which side of the fence to jump over. It's a case of damned if you do, and damned if you don't! Jessica and Ben Mulroney are both popular stars on the network. If 'uncomfortable and awkward’ had a face, CTV would be the poster child. The fact remains that this is not a new story, it’s just the first one that has been publicized so much. What Jessica Mulroney did to Exeter is nothing new, as many of us black writers, producers, journalists and others, have been professionally robbed and made to feel small by these media outlets: and the many Jessica Mulroney’s’ of this world. Mulroney knew what she was doing, and she felt no shame in flexing her white girl muscles. It’s been okay to threaten, rob and steal from black women in the past, as no one cared nor gave a crap.
Years ago I had a different situation, with similar contextualized outcome worse happen to me. As a newly minted writer, with her very first book, ‘Whose Vagina Is It, Really?’, I sent in my book information to Chelsea Handler, who had her own television show on at the time on E! Network. I received no reply to my request, but was shocked and horrified to witness my book title, with a slight change, used in a segment on her show. My social media friends and I were cried bloody murder at what had happened. There, on television was my hard work, which was being used without my permission. This was white privilege in its fine form, as Handler believed that she had the perceived right to do whatever she wanted to do. My blood sweat and tears meant nothing to her, as in her mind; I was an unknown that no one would care about. I was a black woman. My hard work did not matter.
My livelihood did not matter. My career did not matter. My legacy did not matter. My life did not matter. The situation left a bitter taste in my mouth, much like Exeter’s I would assume, as it speaks to our worth and validity in this world. If my talents could be so easily exploited, then why even bother? I wish this was the only story, but this is just one of many, as stolen ideas and white privilege is rampant within the entertainment business. This is what we are telling our young people and the next generation, if we do not make changes: now.
Now that companies are looking to make changes, I believe that quotas must be set. We’ve tried it one way and it has not worked. Change must come from the top down. Black and brown representation must be in the boardrooms and in each company’s mandate. When networks such as CBC, ABC, NBC or Corus look to hire, cast or produce new shows, their mandates should include diversity and a look at fresh blood. Diverse people from all different backgrounds.
