Broadway’s 'The Lion King' Fires Workers Over Skin Color

Tierin-Rose Mandelburg | November 14, 2022
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I sometimes forget that the left thinks that racism doesn’t count when it’s against white people. 

The Theater Development Fund, which staffs Broadway’s shows with American Sign Language interpreters, allegedly forced at least two white people off the cast of "The Lion King" due to their skin color. One of those individuals, Keith Wann, has decided to sue the organization over its racism, The New York Post reported. 

Supposedly director Lisa Carling told Wann and another interpreter, Christina Mosleh, to “back out” of the show as she thought it was “no longer appropriate to have white interpreters represent black characters for ASL Broadway shows.” 

Related: CNN Accuses Lottery System Of Racism After Record Powerball Payout

Wann's been a sign language interpreter and performer for over ten years and was asked to cover the ASL role in a performance of "The Lion King" in March. The news of his dismissal came just a few days after he was cast. 

He said that the decision is “discrimination” and that “it doesn’t matter if I’m white or black.”

“With great embarrassment and apologies, I’m asking you both to please back out of interpreting the show for us on Sunday, April 24,” Carling wrote. “I don’t see any other way out of this. It seems like the best solution.”

Wann is suing The Theater Development Fund and in the suit he indicated that Shelly Guy, the ASL director for “The Lion King” facilitated the firing of the non-black interpreters, the Post said.

Wann went on Fox News Monday morning with his attorney to discuss the situation. 

 

He indicated that the blatant racism and discrimination prohibited him from earning the $1000 that he was expected from the show.

Wann’s attorney, Josh Pepper, told Fox News “They pretty much admit in their email that they are retracting the offer because he is white and there is a statute, it’s actually a Reconstruction Act statute, that says you cannot —that people have the right to contract regardless of their race. It was, again, a Reconstruction Era statute that was intended to protect the former slaves, to protect black people from not being able to have their businesses. But, the Supreme Court decided in 1976 that white people could sue under this statute as well.” 

At the end of the interview, Wann reiterated that “wrong is wrong” and that the organization is “not allowed to fire someone” based on their skin color. 

Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt summed it up nicely, indicating that Wann was trying to help hearing impaired individuals enjoy the theater but was targeted and fired based on his skin tone. 

While only two known outlets so far have picked up Wann’s story, I wouldn’t be surprised if those are the only two. The media and the left only like to cover racism when its targeted toward black people. 

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