A’Ziah King Blasts A24 For Being Left Out Of 'Zola' Awards Recognition

A’Ziah King, the woman who wrote the Twitter thread that inspired the film Zola, is speaking out against production company A24 after being excluded from the film’s awards recognition.

Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty

According to reports from Variety, King took to Twitter on Sunday to make her frustrations public.

She retweeted the organization behind the Independent Spirit film awards before adding her own text, writing, “I think it’s hilarious Zola is up for 7 awards and no one thought to invite me nor include me IN the writers award category. As if there would’ve been a film or a script to write if I didn’t um… write it?”

She went on to add: “I think its HILARIOUS everyone else is on my Television promoting & speaking on my experience as if it’s their moment and not a moment I created for us all. I think it’s hilarious my intellect, trauma and talent is being overshadowed and hijacked. I AM the moment! Excuse me while I laugh.”

King made sure to clarify in her next tweet that A24 is who she’s upset with, not anyone else involved in the film.

“Let’s be clear: my beef is with A24 exclusively,” she explained. “Not the creators not the award shows. a24 is the OP rn. Nobody else.”

A’Ziah went on to write, “I HAVE been credited & I am VERY content with my EP credit! I am in awe of Janicza & Jeremy’s writing & directing. They deserve & have fought for me for YEARS. However not receiving a invite or even being thought of is the issue.”

Following her thread and multiple publications posting about the situation, King ended up being invited, which she posted about just a few hours after calling A24 out.

“The shade room post a tweet & suddenly I have 2 tickets coming I bet I do …. I’ll see y’all there.”

The film Zola is based on a story by King, which she wrote as a 148-tweet thread that went viral on Twitter in 2015. Her tweets, along with a Rolling Stone article by David Kushner that clarified some of the details in the thread, are both credited as the source material for the adaption’s screenplay.

When the Independent Spirit Awards released their list of nominees in December, only co-screenwriters Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris were nominated. As King mentioned in her thread, she is credited as one of the film’s executive producers.