It’s an open secret in Hollywood that there are 2 separate A-lists. There’s the official A-list — the one that is most coveted and often referred to in articles and press releases. Then there is the black A-list.
Less than a handful of accomplished black actors have the high visibility or financial clout to garner an honorable mention on the official A-list.
Even then black superstars like Oprah and Denzel are penciled in for political and inclusive brownie points.
Hollywood Reporter blog exposes Hollywood’s growing racial divide in a review of Marvel’s Black Panther trailer.
The Black Panther trailer generated 89 million total views across all platforms in less than 24 hours of its debut during the 1st quarter of game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Struggling to explain the trailer’s popularity, Hollywood Reporter writer Borys Kit assumed that the ‘Black Panther’ trailer generated 89 million views off the strength of one actor, Chadwick Boseman, who plays T’Challa, aka the Black Panther.
Even worse, Kit writes that “Black Panther features an unprecedented predominantly black cast and no A-listers“.
In fact, the cast boasts 2 Oscar winners, Forest Whitaker and Lupita Nyong’o, in addition to highly decorated black actors Angela Bassett, Michael B. Jordan and Phylicia Rashad.
Following the backlash in the comments section, the writer further insulted his readers by editing out “no A-listers” and writing “no box office titans”.
The snub didn’t sit well with white and black readers of the high traffic blog.
One reader wrote, “No A-Listers” I guess Academy Award Winner Lupita Nyong’o hasn’t paid her dues?”
Another commenter wrote: “No A-Listers? Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong’o? Oh let me guess…the only black actor that counts as A-list to y’all is Denzel, right?”
Black Panther is set for theatrical release in 2018.
