Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Letitia Wright is clarifying where she stands in regard to COVID-19 vaccines.
To jog your memory, the actress found herself in hot water back in 2020 when she reposted a YouTube video that espoused vaccine skepticism and anti-vaccine rhetoric online. As previously reported by The Root, though she initially accompanied the video with just a prayer hands emoji, it was her series of defensive tweets in response to fans afterward that got folks in an uproar.
Well, nearly two years later, Wright is addressing those comments and assuring fans that she’s “moved on” from the controversy.
“I feel it’s something I experienced two years ago and I have in a healthy way moved on,” the Silent Twins star explained to The Guardian. “And in a healthy way, I’ve apologized and deleted my Twitter. I just apologized for any hurt that was caused to anybody.”
She further added, “It was saying this is not me, and I apologize.”
Despite Wright having moved on from that time, popular trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter apparently has not. On Monday, the publication published an opinion piece titled “How Personal Baggage Will Impact Oscar Chances,” where they brought up the Wright, Will Smith and Brad Pitt as case studies for how their controversial moments might hinder them from getting recognized for their art. It also likened Wright, Smith and Pitt’s troubles to those of Roman Polanki, Woody Allen, Nate Parker, Casey Affleck and more.
When Wright found out, she took to her Instagram stories to call out the platform and its executive editor Scott Feinberg, who penned the piece, for the “incredibly disrespectful” article.
“Had to unblock @hollywoodreporter just to post this. You’re all incredibly disrespectful,” Write wrote. “How dare you. You mentioned my name alongside men who have been accused of abuse & sexual misconduct. This is vile behavior. At this point a personal vendetta towards me. I’ve done nothing wrong but respectfully refused to do interviews with this publication. Stop your nonsense. I apologised two years ago. Remained silent on the topic. You lied and said I continued talking about it with my cast & crew on my set. THIS WAS NOT TRUE. ASK MY PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR. The film is successful. Your agenda towards me is now even more clear. I won’t remain silent. Stop your disgusting behaviour.”
She concluded:
“@scott_feinburg, This personal agenda with your friends at @hollywoodreporter is disgusting. I’ve remained silent as the world told me to kill myself two years ago for a video I posted and apologised for. I kept my head down and focused on my craft. And now I’m at the other side of it. Here you are, as a so called journalist we are meant to trust, putting my name into this nasty article for what?
You lack substance, you clearly have nothing to report. The movie is beautiful, impactful and breaking box office. I worked my ass off with my cast and crew to dedicate it to my Brother. How dare you. Did my performance rattle you that much? It was that excellent, huh? I’m still here, still making impact, still creating projects that touch people’s hearts and it’s not going to stop. Get a life, like for real.”