Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Actress Ayo Edebiri checked a reporter who excluded her from a question about the MeToo Movement and Black Lives Matter during a press event at the Venice Film Festival, per The Independent.
Edebiri was promoting her upcoming film, After the Hunt, with co-stars Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts, when Italian journalist Federica Polidoro questioned only Garfield and Roberts on what to expect “in Hollywood after the MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter are done,” and whether “we lost something with the politically correct era.”
Visibly confused, Roberts asked Polidoro to remove her sunglasses and clarify who the question was for. Polidoro reiterated it was directed “for Julia and Andrew,” prompting Edebiri to interject and school the reporter on the social justice movements.
“I know that that’s not for me, and I don’t know if it’s purposeful if it’s not for me," Edebiri said. "I don’t think it’s done, I don’t think it’s done at all. Hashtags might not be used as much, but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people every day that’s beautiful, important work. That’s not finished, that’s really, really active for a reason because this world’s really charged. And that work isn’t finished at all.”
“Maybe if there’s not mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been, daily headlines in the way that it might have been eight or so years ago, but I don’t think it means that the work is done. That’s what I would say," she added.
Edebiri's exchange with the reporter went viral on social media, with many praising the actress' grace and composure in what appeared to be a pointed exclusion.
"Insanity! A horrible question to begin with but to exclude the person that it pertains to the most? Yeah, wild!" one X user tweeted.
"Mind you black women founded the #metoo and #blacklivesmatter movements smh 🤦🏾♀️ ayo handled this perfectly," another person wrote.
Polidoro addressed backlash from the exchange in a statement on Instagram, claiming she has been the target of “personal insults and attacks” and denying any racial bias in her questioning.
“I am not aware of any protocol that dictates the order in which questions must be asked in an interview,” she said, refusing to apologize.
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