If there’s one group of people you can always bet on to keep it real at all times, it’s Black women. When it comes to the shortcomings of Hollywood and its mistreatment and undervaluing of Black talent and shows in particular, Black women—namely Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer and most recently Issa Rae are sounding the alarm and proposing a complete exit from the industry as a whole.
Looking effortlessly glam on the cover of TIME’s inaugural “Closers” issue—a new list that recognizes 18 leaders working to close the racial wealth gap—Rae didn’t mince words or thoughts on how Hollywood has been moving when it comes to Black shows and diverse voices. Explaining how she feels like the industry is backtracking on their promises for diversity and representation and describing Hollywood as “scared” and “at the mercy of Wall Street,” Rae said:
“There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do...
I’m sorry, but there aren’t a lot of smart executives anymore. And a lot of them have aged out and are holding on to their positions and refusing to let young blood get in. Now these conglomerate leaders are also making the decisions about Hollywood. Y’all aren’t creative people. Stick to the money. The people that are taking chances are on platforms like TikTok: that’s what’s getting the eyeballs of the youth. So you’re killing your own industry.”
She later added: “I know what my brand identity is and what I want to make. But if that doesn’t align with who’s paying me to make stuff, then that’s complex. We are malleable, but only to an extent.”
Because of this, Rae also revealed her plan to invest in resources to create a campus for filmmakers and studios in South L.A. and invest in more independent, “smaller, quieter” projects outside of and away from the traditional Hollywood machine.
As for Palmer, she recently shared with Teen Vogue as their first cover star of 2024, that her time in the industry would be reaching its end point sooner rather than later, explaining: “I don’t know. I think the timer has started. I think it’s because I just haven’t felt it yet. But the timer, I know that it’s around the corner. I don’t know when exactly, but it’s around the corner.”
But before she clocks out on Hollywood, she, like Rae, is hellbent on creating ecosystems like the newly formed KeyTV and opportunities for Black creators and creators of color to thrive. She’s also shining a lot of the lack of opportunities Black creatives get, echoing similar sentiments that Henson shared about her decades long experience of being lowballed in pay and having to constantly work and fight for opportunities.
“We ALL work multiple jobs and we may like some but also because we HAVE to,” the “Nope” star captioned in a post to Instagram in December. “To be successful and live in America it’s literally this way because of the cash to expense ratio and this is why entrepreneurship is so important but that in itself is expensive! Having one job for anyone is not really an option no matter what industry unless you are like the top top top TOP earner and I mean that’s like Bill Gates and them I suppose. Idk because I can’t relate haha! I am not complaining or comparing but I acknowledge that we all have similar struggles in our industries and it’s because corporations run everything and they aren’t people.”
As previously mentioned, it was Henson’s shocking revelations about the treatment she and her fellow costars were subjected to while filming “The Color Purple” and lowball pay that almost led her to walking away from the film entirely. In a tearful interview with Gayle King for SiriusXM, she shockingly revealed that her frustrations were also making her consider giving up acting for good.
“I’m only human and it seems every time I do something and break a glass ceiling—when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did. And I’m just tired,” Henson tearfully said. “I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you. Because what does that mean? What is that telling me? And if I can’t fight for them coming behind me, then what the fuck am I doing?”
She later went on to share her frustrations over Hollywood’s longstanding excuse narrative that Black leading/centric shows “don’t translate well overseas” and that being used as a crutch for not properly investing into our projects.
With all these powerhouse women seemingly reaching a tipping point and sounding the alarm back to back—you might be wondering: “where will they go if they leave Hollywood’s dysfunctional family?”
Well, as previously mentioned by Rae and Palmer, they’’ll still be in the industry—just in a way that makes sense for them and their long-term plans for building up other Black creatives’ careers and pushing for diverse stories and representation through their own companies and systems. As for Henson, she shared that she has other things to sustain her outside of her Hollywood career, but you can no doubt bet that she’ll continue to do whatever’s in her power to make the way smooth for those coming after her in the industry.