Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

White ‘Lion King’ sign-language interpreter says he was ousted over skin color (Not The Bee)
NY Post ^ | November 12, 2022 | Jacob Geanous

Posted on 11/12/2022 9:38:15 PM PST by Dahoser

It’s not the Great White Way.

A white sign-language interpreter says he was booted from “The Lion King” on Broadway because of his skin color.

Keith Wann, 53, was one of at least two people forced off the production by the non-profit Theatre Development Fund – which staffs Broadway shows with American Sign Language interpreters – after the group decided it was “no longer appropriate to have white interpreters represent black characters for ASL Broadway shows.”

Wann filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday against the organization and the director of its accessibility programs, Lisa Carling.

...

Carling’s decision came at the behest of Shelly Guy, the director of ASL for “The Lion King,” and called for Carling to get rid of all non-black interpreters, according to another email obtained by The Post and cited in the suit.

“The majority of the characters in the Lion King are black actors and the content takes place in Africa,” Guy wrote Carling on April 1.

“Keith Wann, though an amazing ASL performer, is not a black person and therefore should not be representing Lion King,” she declared.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: jacobgeanous; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorkpost; reverseracism; wokemadness
From what I can tell, the Lion King movie was written and directed by a group of white people, and the Lion King musical is also from a group of white people including Elton John. Somehow all those innately racist from birth white people created a movie and a musical about black people that is beloved by millions of people of all colors. Good thing a young white liberal woman like Shelly Guy stepped in to right the racial wrong of white sign lanaguage performers.
1 posted on 11/12/2022 9:38:15 PM PST by Dahoser
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Lefties are hypocrites, hands down.


2 posted on 11/12/2022 9:45:19 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

This is in essence, racial discrimination. Yes.
However, when you’re dealing with the creative arts, the conceptual view according to the director or producer is often the overriding decision. So, the theater group may get away with it.

If the director can say she was trying to present a show that featured and glorified blacks in that setting, she may have a point. In some other production, this may not be the case at all. I would find it even more believable that this man was ousted because of age discrimination. He’s in his early 50’s.


3 posted on 11/12/2022 9:50:13 PM PST by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

4 posted on 11/12/2022 9:57:58 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Was that in the audition requirements or the employment contract? Do they only want an all-black audience? How about the rest of the crew? Do they have to leave if their melanin count is too low? Maybe the sign-language person should’ve identified as black or mulatto.

Have the powers that be in this event asked wild animals from Africa how they feel about being played by humans from the New World?


5 posted on 11/12/2022 9:58:34 PM PST by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: skr

Good observation.


6 posted on 11/12/2022 10:02:47 PM PST by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I remember that guy. He was supposedly ‘interpreting’ for Obama, during one of his trips to Africa.
The Sign Language interpreter was discovered to be a fraud.
Worse still, I recall that he had a criminal past.

I don’t remember what he did, but he was well known by the local police. There was delayed shock for Obama’s “Fans”.
They couldn’t believe White Hse Security was so lax, and didn’t vet this fake who was standing one elbow away from the American President. I think Rush chuckled about it.


7 posted on 11/12/2022 10:13:53 PM PST by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: All

The original Lion King was written by 3 white people. How is it that the blacks consider the Lion King theirs?


8 posted on 11/12/2022 10:58:55 PM PST by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thegagline

The same way blacks consider “Wakanda” theirs, even though it was created by two white guys: cuz they said so.


9 posted on 11/13/2022 12:49:21 AM PST by Retrofitted
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Did they replace him with that Black bogus sign language guy who stood on stage with Obama in South Africa?


10 posted on 11/13/2022 2:06:52 AM PST by zeestephen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Keith Wann, though an amazing ASL performer, is not a black person and therefore should not be representing Lion King,” she declared.

And the cast of Hamilton?


11 posted on 11/13/2022 3:03:26 AM PST by bike800
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lee martell

A producer’s conceptual view wouldn’t mean shit if races were reversed in this situation.


12 posted on 11/13/2022 3:06:31 AM PST by mrmeyer (You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. Robert Heinlein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: bike800

It is ok for black people to appropriate anything in the white culture but a white person better not dare appropriate anything from any culture of brown or black people!


13 posted on 11/13/2022 3:59:42 AM PST by JoJo354 (I am in mourning for the United States of America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Racism against white people in rampant and supported by government at all levels. Fight back folks any way you can.


14 posted on 11/13/2022 4:08:16 AM PST by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks, and have the will to use them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin; Dahoser

Shut up and pick da’ damn cottin’, Whitey!


15 posted on 11/13/2022 4:39:49 AM PST by Aevery_Freeman (When did my Color TV become Colored TV?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

But...but...The Lion King is about any people! Just animals!


16 posted on 11/13/2022 4:48:08 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BradyLS

...isn’t about...


17 posted on 11/13/2022 4:50:48 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Dahoser

Seems Shelley is a white chick from Haifa, Israel. How is SHE allowed to be on the production?


18 posted on 11/13/2022 7:04:35 AM PST by CaptainPhilFan ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson