Oscar winner Denzel Washington is the latest Hollywood star who is the focus of leaked emails from Sony execs.
An email chain from studio execs reveal that Sony was reluctant to cast Washington in big films because he’s black.
RadarOnline.com obtained an email thread dated after the September release of Washington’s latest film, The Equalizer, in which a producer suggested Sony should avoid casting black actors in an attempt to appeal to international audiences.
The email was sent from the producer to Sony Chairman, Michael Lynton.
“No, I am not saying The Equalizer should not have been made or that African American actors should not have been used (I personally think Denzel is the best actor of his generation),” the producer wrote.
“I believe that the international motion picture audience is racist — in general pictures with an African American lead don’t play well overseas. But Sony sometimes seems to disregard that a picture must work well internationally to both maximize returns and reduce risk, especially pics with decent size budgets.”
“He’s reliable at the domestic [box office], safe, but has not had a huge success in years. I believe whenever possible the non event pictures, extra ‘bets’ should have a large inherent upside and be made for the right price. Here there isn’t a large inherent upside.”
For the record, The Equalizer grossed a domestic total of $101.8 million dollars and a worldwide total of $191 million.
Previous emails between Sony execs exposed racist jokes about President Obama and jokes about Kevin Hart.
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