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    HBO Responds to 'Blackface' Allegations by 'Lovecraft Country' Extra

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    HBO Max

    Kelli Amirah previously shared in TikTok videos that the makeup team from the show was ‘putting me in blackface’ by making her face and her hands look darker to match another actress’ skin tone.

    Mar 9, 2021
    AceShowbiz – HBO has addressed the accusations leveled at it by a “Lovecraft Country” extra, who claimed that the makeup artists darkened her skin. In a statement that was issued on Monday, March 8, the cable network responded to Kelli Amirah’s experience while working for the hit show.
    “We were very disappointed to learn of Ms. Amirah’s experience,” a spokesperson for the network shared. HBO also assured that it would make sure that “this should not have happened, and we are taking steps to ensure this doesn’t occur again in the future.”
    Kelli first claimed in February that the makeup team from the show was “putting me in blackface” by making her face and her hands look darker to match another actress’ skin tone. “I notice my foundation is getting darker and darker,” she shared in a TikTok video. “I was so uncomfortable. I had no idea they were going to do this to me. And if I knew beforehand, I would not have accepted the job. Who thought that this was a good idea?”
    “I have no clout, no pull, no nothing. This job is the first time I’ve ever had my own lil trailer on set,” the 23-year-old, who appeared as a young version of Carol Sutton’s Osberta in an old photo of her wedding day, added. “I’m getting special treatment, sitting in between the big leagues.”

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    Later on March 6, Kelli elaborated her experience in a series of posts on her Twitter account. “I’ve been getting a lot of very valid critiques for my complacency in allowing Lovecraft Country to darken my skin as a photo double for some set photography briefly featured in an episode. It’s uncomfortable but it’s not wrong. I was weak and complacent in that moment,” she began her thread.
    “I always thought that ethically I would never be the type of light skinned actress stealing roles better suited for darker women. I don’t submit for things that I *know* aren’t a fit for me,” she went on to say. “In the instance of Lovecraft, I applied for a casting for a 20-25 year old African American woman to play the younger version of a character in her wedding photo. No audition, just an online submission and booking.”
    Kelli mentioned that “there was no mention of me being too light when I was caster nor when I went in for my fitting days before. And it wasn’t until I was in the chair that I overheard the muas discussing it. Even then, I thought ‘maybe they just meant a couple shades’ I’m sure it won’t be much more than a tan. And then they just kept painting me darker.”
    “Now as this was happening I had so many conflicting thoughts in my head. This is wrong. Why did they hire me. I should say something. What would I say? What would happen? If I hold up this production how much money goes down the drain. What will be my repercussions?” Kelli wondered. “But yeah, the entertainment industry needs to do better. I need to do better. I didn’t show up in the way I should have, and again, I’m sorry for that.”

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      in Television

      'Lovecraft Country' and 'Palm Springs' Top Nominations at Critics' Choice Super Awards

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      HBO/Hulu

      The inaugural Critics’ Choice Super Awards also has ‘Birds of Prey’, ‘Mulan’, ‘Tenet’, ‘Bad Boys for Life’, ‘The Mandalorian’, and ‘Star Trek: Picard’ among the nominees.

      Nov 20, 2020
      AceShowbiz – “Lovecraft Country” and “Palm Springs” lead the nominees for the first ever Critics’ Choice Super Awards.
      The new ceremony, hosted by Kevin Smith and Dani Fernandez on 10 January (21), will honour movies and television shows superhero, science fiction/fantasy, horror, action, and animation genres.
      Leading the way with six nominations is HBO’s “Lovecraft Country”, with a total of six nods including best horror series, and best actor or actress in a horror series nods for Jonathan Majors, Michael K. Williams, Wunmi Mosaku, and Jurnee Smollett. Abbey Lee was also nominated for the best villain in a series prize.
      Romantic time-loop comedy “Palm Springs” received five nods including best science fiction/fantasy movie, best actor in a science fiction/fantasy movie recognition for Andy Samberg and J.K. Simmons, who is also up for best film villain, and best actress in a science fiction/fantasy movie for Cristin Milioti.

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      One of the most competitive categories is the best action movie section, with “Bad Boys for Life”, “Da 5 Bloods”, “Extraction”, “Greyhound”, “The Hunt”, “Mulan”, “The Outpost”, and “Tenet” all shortlisted.
      “Birds of Prey”, “The Old Guard”, “Secret Society of Second-Born Royals”, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, and the animation “Superman: Man of Tomorrow” are all nominated in a superhero category depleted by the delayed release of a number of blockbusters.
      Other actors nominated for awards in the various genre categories for film include Will Smith (“Bad Boys for Life”), Tom Hanks (“Greyhound”), Jamie Foxx (“Soul”), Tom Holland (“Onward”), Chris Hemsworth (“Extraction”), Blake Lively (“The Rhythm Section”), John David Washington (“Tenet”), Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey”), and Charlize Theron (“The Old Guard”).
      Al Pacino (“Hunters”), Cynthia Erivo (“The Outsider”), Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”), Patrick Stewart (“Star Trek: Picard), and Thandie Newton (“Westworld”) are among those receiving recognition for their TV work.

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      Michael K. Williams Has to Dig Down in Own Pain and Trauma for 'Lovecraft Country' Role

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      ‘The Wire’ star opens up about the main thing that attracted him to the role of Montrose Freeman, a victim of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre in Oklahoma, on the HBO series.

      Oct 20, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Actor Michael K. Williams channelled his own “pain and trauma” to play Montrose Freeman on “Lovecraft Country”.
      On the HBO show, Montrose is revealed to be a victim of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre in Oklahoma, when white rioters attacked a black business district of the city, killing 36 people, injuring hundreds and destroying countless businesses.
      Now Williams tells People magazine of his character: “He’s traumatized… We meet this man, and he’s already a survivor of the Tulsa Massacre. He moved to the south side of Chicago, which is kind of a war-zone in itself.”
      “This is also happening through the Jim Crow (civil rights) era. He has issues, unresolved issues about himself that he was never allowed to explore,” he says, adding he “doesn’t know if he’s gay or straight or bisexual.”
      “He was told by society, his community and by his family what black masculinity should look like, and he had to stuff anything away that didn’t resemble what he was told. That’s who Montrose is when we find him. He’s in a lot of pain,” he adds.

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      While he admits Montrose is “different” from his previous roles, such as Omar Little in “The Wire”, exploring the character’s “pain and trauma” was a deeply personal experience for Williams.
      “He comes from such a broken place,” reflects the actor. “I just had to find my own pain and my own trauma, which was a very painful experience for me. All the generational pain that had been passed down through my own personal experiences, I had to dig deep down in that for Montrose.”
      He continues, “I went home to the projects (where I grew up) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn (New York), and remembered all the violence and the anger and the missed opportunities and the potential and the innocence lost and stolen.”
      “All of that greatness that was in Tulsa, I saw that in my community. It was a really painful connection to make, but in my mind, that’s where I went to.”
      The star explains the main thing that attracted him to the role was “the opportunity to play dad to that amazing Jonathan Majors (Atticus) and for us to explore what father and son bonding looks like and how we can rebuild that and treasure it.”
      “Black fathers have been ripped away from their sons for so many years, mine included,” he states. “I hope Montrose will remind us how much little black boys need their fathers.”

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