While this year’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy once again raised questions regarding Hollywood’s apparent inability to nominate African American talents, Russell Simmons argues that the broader problem resides within the lack of diversity throughout the business side of the industry.
During a newly published interview with VladTV, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings spoke on what he calls the “black agent problem,” before discussing the lack of African American studio executives and higher-ups in the industry.
“The problem in Hollywood is the black agent,” Russell Simmons says. “If he’s not friends with white Hollywood — say he’s the black agent and he represents Denzel [Washington], if he’s not hanging out with the power brokers then Denzel gotta leave you. If you’re Will Smith’s agent, and you’re good, and Will Smith gets hot — you should grow when Will grows, too, that’s true — but Will might get impatient, waiting on you to make deals with power brokers that you didn’t hang out with.
“The problem is that there’s nobody black pushing buttons nowhere. Nowhere. In charge of nothing,” Russell Simmons adds before DJ Vlad acknowledges that the president of The Academy is an African American woman. “Yeah, the president of The Academy, the producer of the show, Chris Rock – fuck The Academy. The conversation is who’s pressing the buttons. Nobody black, period. No president of no studio is black. No president of no TV show company is black. Nobody of any significance at all in the agency business is black. Nobody… Nobody black in charge of nothing at no agency… I see it as an infrastructure problem.”
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Later in the conversation, Russell Simmons spoke on the segregation that’s prevalent throughout Hollywood’s comedy circuit.
“Why if you a black comedian you gotta go to ‘Chocolate Sunday’ or ‘Terrible Tuesday’ or ‘Wild Wednesday?’ And you notice there’s no agents or no producers or directors in the room… It is true that if you a black comedian, you don’t know you’re a nigga until you move to Hollywood and they tell you, ‘I’ll see you on Chocolate Sunday, that’s what night you play.’ It’s segregated.”
Russell Simmons’ interview with VladTV can be viewed below:
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