Idris Elba says enough is enough.
Source: Mike Marsland / Getty
The Luther star is fed up with trolls who say he denied his Blackness when he denounced the label, “Black actor.” As previously reported the British Zaddy explained to Esquire UK that referring to yourself as a Black actor can limit role opportunities and growth in the field.
Now he’s responding to criticism he got for his comments and labeling it “stupid.”
During a new interview with The Guardian, Elba noted that he purposely lives a “sheltered life” because social media often chooses to contort the words of celebrities.
“It’s really difficult to have an opinion if you’re in the public eye because it gets overly scrutinized, taken out of context, and thrown into some sort of bullshit, zeitgeisty social media argument.”
The 50-year-old described social media as a “conflict incubator” and noted that his anti-Black actor label is his choice, and he’s sticking to it because it’s his prerogative.
“Me saying I don’t like to call myself a Black actor is my prerogative. That’s me, not you. So for you to turn around and say to me, I’m ‘denying my Blackness’. On what grounds? Did you hear that? Where am I denying it? And what for? It’s just stupid. Whatever,” he told The Guardian.
“There isn’t a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not. Being an ‘actor’ is a profession, like being an ‘architect,’ they are not defined by race. However, If YOU define your work by your race, that is your Perogative [sic]. Ah, lie?”
“I don’t put black artist in my bio, I’m an artist. I understood his point,” tweeted one.
Several Black actors including Michael B. Jordan have openly discussed their difficulties obtaining roles that weren’t stereotypical and their desire to play universal portrayals with race uncentered.
“I want to only go for like, [roles written for] white males. That’s it. That’s all I want to do,” he shared. “Me playing that role is going to make it what it is… I don’t want any pre-bias on the character.”He continued, “Sometimes writers write what they know,” and “what their encounters of us would be and that’s a slight bias.”
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