{"id":401140,"date":"2021-04-08T18:58:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T22:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=401140"},"modified":"2021-04-08T18:58:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T22:58:18","slug":"disability-advocates-call-for-more-hollywood-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disability-advocates-call-for-more-hollywood-representation\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability Advocates Call For More Hollywood Representation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdisability-advocates-call-for-more-hollywood-representation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=401140&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-1011.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Amid Hollywood\u2019s push for more diversity and inclusion, disability advocates are worried that the industry will leave them on the backburner as they focus on representing other minorities.<\/p>\n<p>In an open letter released on Wednesday, over 80 industry members called upon business leaders to focus more on disability inclusion. Spearheaded by Keely Cat-Wells, founder and CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/ctalent.org\/about\/\" data-ylk=\"subsec:paragraph;cpos:2;elm:context_link;itc:0\" data-rapid-parsed=\"slk\" data-rapid_p=\"1\" data-v9y=\"1\">C Talent<\/a>, an agency representing disabled artists and athletes, the letter was signed by the likes of Amy Poehler, Naomie Harris, and Heather Matarazzo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t design for accessibility or include people with disabilities, it is like saying we don\u2019t want the business of every fifth person who walks or rolls through the door,\u201d said Cat-Wells, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/hollywood-disability-advocates-accessibility_n_606f0787c5b68ddf94ba82d1\">HuffPost<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cat-Wells said she founded C Talent in 2017 after facing discrimination in the industry as a disabled person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to the fitting where they had me try on a low-rise bikini, which revealed my Ileostomy bag,\u201d she said. \u201cThe next day, I received an email saying that I no longer had the part. They said I was \u2018too off-putting\u2019 to the audience and it would be \u2018too confusing.\u2019 This could have easily been \u2018fixed\u2019 with a high-waisted bikini. This type of prejudice and discrimination is not an isolated occurrence. In short, I lost a job because of my disability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The open letter specifically called out Hollywood for making pledges about disability representation but never following through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDue to years of misrepresentation in the media, social barriers, and chronic ableism, the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Neurodiverse and Disabled communities continue to be underrepresented and disrespected in the entertainment industry,\u201d the letter says. \u201cThis fight is not a new one. Pledges have been made but no systemic action has been taken to change inequitable systems and procedures. We can\u2019t expect a band-aid to heal an open wound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"a\">\u201cDisabled people make up the largest minority group in the world \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"a\">One in f<\/span><span class=\"a\">our&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"a\">people are living <\/span><span class=\"a\">with a disability <\/span><span class=\"a\">and yet according to GLAAD\u2019s \u2018Where We Are on TV report\u2019 the number of series<\/span><span class=\"a\">&nbsp;regular characters reflects 3.5% representation, with very few of <\/span><span class=\"a\">those <\/span><span class=\"a\">being authentic,\u201d it continued. \u201c<\/span><span class=\"a\">This number continues to severely under-represent the actual U.S. population living with disabilities<\/span><span class=\"a\">. <\/span><span class=\"a\">Behind the camera reflects an even worse set of statistics. Adequate inclusion is <\/span><span class=\"a\">long overdue. <\/span><span class=\"a\">Do not dismiss disability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last December, members of the deaf community were upset over the fact that the CBS adaptation of \u201cThe Stand\u201d did not cast an actual deaf person to play a particular role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe selection of the hearing actor to portray Nick Andros in The Stand is not acceptable. The character, Nick Andros[,] is Deaf and signs. Not one Deaf professional actor was called in to audition for the role,\u201d the open letter stated. \u201cThe decision was made without respect to and for Deaf professionals, union, and non-union alike. There was no acknowledgement given to the psyche of a Deaf character; being Deaf is more than just not hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time of diversity and inclusion, this cycle of misrepresentation and unequal or non-existent employment opportunities for Deaf professionals in the entertainment industry, both in front of and behind the camera, must end,\u201d it continued. \u201cThis has been happening for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/cbs-the-stand-blasted-for-not-casting-a-real-deaf-person\">CBS\u2019 \u2018The Stand\u2019 Blasted For Not Casting A Real Deaf&nbsp;Person<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid Hollywood\u2019s push for more diversity and inclusion, disability advocates are worried that the industry will leave them on the backburner as they focus on representing other minorities.In an open &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1891844,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1891844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}