Tagged: talent agent
why is Hollywood continuing to EXCLUDE QUALIFIED African Americans from meaningful positions of employment? Charles Johnson explores the reasons why with his new book AppBLACKation Rejected.
In the book’s description on Amazon, it states:
Why is Hollywood so reluctant to hire people of color? You’ve seen how the Rodney King incident and the O.J. Simpson scandal impacted race relations throughout America. But, outside of Hollywood, have you ever heard of Riley Weston, The Secret Life of Desmond Pfeiffer, or “The Virtual Whiteout” of 1999? All of them, including King and O.J. have contributed to low employment for people of color from the late ‘90’s through the economic crisis of 2008. AppBLACKation Rejected pulls back the Hollywood curtain so readers can see how fear of unemployment promotes racist behavior in otherwise decent people, white and black. From 1992 to the exposure of Amy Pascal in 2014, this book chronicles more than 20 years of deceit and immorality in Hollywood by distinguishing between racism and discrimination, and through the author’s personal journey, examines how liberal Hollywood can practice what they preach and begin hiring African-Americans rather than just talking about it. If you want to understand why Hollywood is considered unfair, how to deal with unpredictable personalities when hired, or how the business operates from writing through production to distribution, AppBlackation Rejected explains the Hollywood process and its sickness better than any film school could ever dare.
In my opinion, African Americans made the most progress in the 1990s when it came to being employed in meaningful positions throughout Hollywood [specifically during President Clinton’s two terms], but it cannot be disputed that this “Jewish” controlled industry has harbored a racial animus against people of African descent and excluded qualified people of color from decisionmking positions and other higher-status, higher-paying positions THROUGHOUT HISTORY. Thus, no person who perpetuates the myth of white/”Jewish” superiority — consciously or unconsciously — is “decent” in my eyes.
I just got my hands on the audio version of the book and I look forward to giving Charles’ book a listen.
To purchase this book, click the image above.
“Issues of race have long bedeviled Hollywood, which has been criticized for not giving minorities enough opportunities for work, and for not doing enough to represent African Americans, Latinos and others in films and television shows. Darnell Hunt, a sociology professor at UCLA, said he was not surprised by the nature of the emails. ‘This is where we are in Hollywood,’ said Hunt, who is director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, which produces the annual Hollywood Diversity Report. ‘We have a diversity problem … the fact that you can have these perceptions that are made jokingly give us a peek into the underlying culture of the industry.'”
Everyone wants to write about Sony’s hacked e-mails, but the media doesn’t want to discuss the fact that William Morris, Creative Artists Agency, their attorneys and counsel for the plaintiffs in Rowe Entertainment v. William Morris Agency et al. (98-8287) concealed smoking gun evidence showing Agents and other employees from two of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies referring to African Americans as “nigger,” “nigga,” “coon,” “Uncle Tom” and “monkey” hundreds of times in incoming and outgoing e-mails.
Above is the document Leonard Rowe found on his attorney’s desk, now known as “Exhibit 31.” What makes the actions of Rowe’s attorneys so unethical, is that the class of black concert promoters paid $200,000.00 for this search and were told by their own white attorneys that “no derogatory terms” were found. Clearly the plaintiffs in Rowe were defrauded because this document is authentic. If not, Arbitrator David L. Gregory would have never admitted this document into the evidence of record in my case when the federal judge in Rowe — Robert P. Patterson — refused to do so eight years earlier. Twelve years after the search was conducted, the underlying e-mails have never been produced.
Source: Daniel Miller. Future of Sony’s Amy Pascal Questioned After Hacked Email Revelations.” Los Angeles Times. December 11, 2014. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sony-amy-pascal-apologizes-20141212-story.html.
putting things in perspective: i was in middle school the year Leonard Rowe and the black concert promoters filed their civil rights and antitrust lawsuit against the William Morris Agency, Creative Artists Agency and others involved in the concert promotion industry….
I didn’t really learn about Leonard Rowe or the details of his case, until I discovered this CNN article [http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-724105] in January 2012 — nearly two years after graduating with my Masters in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. At that time, I was working on my third appeal to the Second Circuit, which sought to have Republican appointed federal judge P. Kevin Castel’s erroneous Order which upheld William Morris’ procedurally and substantively unconscionable arbitration agreements and sought the judges’ (including Magistrate Judge James C.Francis IV who was also the Magistrate Judge in Rowe) disqualification due to the appearance and/or actual existence of bias, prejudice and/or impropriety in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 455 [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/455].
Imagine how I felt after reading this, given that I had already argued and presented a pyramid of evidence in all of my pleadings showing that despite William Morris’ repeated denials throughout history, they were in fact a racist Hollywood institution that had been and still is engaging in a century-plus pattern and continuing practice of discrimination against African Americans — a problem that was clearly not limited to employment. What made things even more shocking, was that 10 years after engaging in a conspiracy to conceal smoking gun evidence showing WMA and CAA employees referring to African Americans as “nigger,” “nigga,” “coon,” etc. in their outgoing and/or incoming e-mails, I was litigating my case against the same attorney and law firm: Michael P. Zweig of Loeb & Loeb LLP.
In my fist appeal filed with the Second Circuit in September 2011, I argued that based on the fact that Castel “ignored my arguments, omitted pertinent facts and misapplied the law,” there must have been some type of collusion taking place between him and opposing counsel. The fact that Castel has not made opposing counsel respond to my Fraud Upon the Court Motion that was filed in March 2014 “speaks volumes” and further supports that they are all conspiring with one another to deprive me of my constitutional and statutory rights under the color of law and interfere with the human rights of people of African descent, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan of 1871, 42. U.S.C. § 1985.
As I have always argued, in one way or another: In order to effectuate the public policy goals of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and additional anti-discrimination statutes such as the New York City Human Rights Law), arbitration is an inappropriate forum to resolve this particular case and the merits of my case should have been decided by an impartial jury reflecting the rich diversity of New York City. The fraudulent actions of the American Arbitration Association and its incompetent staff confirm this fact. Now that the Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over this case, default judgment should be granted on all claims against William Morris, Jeff Meade and Sarah Van Hoven. Even though I can and have proved the merits of all of my claims as a matter of law, default judgment should also be granted as a sanction against Michael P. Zweig and Loeb & Loeb LLP for intentionally engaging in a “pattern” of highly unethical and criminal conduct on William Morris’ behalf, in violation of New York Judiciary Law § 487 and numerous Rules under the New York Rules of Professional Conduct.
I think it’s probably best for the NY Attorney’s General office to forward my complaint against William Morris Endeavor Entertainment for intentional violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to Mr. Eric Holder…
I have presented a pyramid of evidence demonstrating William Morris’ 116 year pattern and continuing practice of intentionally discriminating against African Americans — which is not limited to employment.
In the section titled “Civil Actions By the Attorney General” the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states in §2000e-6:
(a) Complaint
Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of any of the rights secured by this subchapter, and that the pattern or practice is of such a nature and is intended to deny the full exercise of the rights herein described, the Attorney General may bring a civil action in the appropriate district court of the United States by filing with it a complaint (1) signed by him (or in his absence the Acting Attorney General), (2) setting forth facts pertaining to such pattern or practice, and (3) requesting such relief, including an application for a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order or other order against the person or persons responsible for such pattern or practice, as he deems necessary to insure the full enjoyment of the rights herein described.
(b) Jurisdiction; three-judge district court for cases of general public importance: hearing, determination, expedition of action, review by Supreme Court; single judge district court: hearing, determination, expedition of action
The district courts of the United States shall have and shall exercise jurisdiction of proceedings instituted pursuant to this section, and in any such proceeding the Attorney General may file with the clerk of such court a request that a court of three judges be convened to hear and determine the case. Such request by the Attorney General shall be accompanied by a certificate that, in his opinion, the case is of general public importance. A copy of the certificate and request for a three-judge court shall be immediately furnished by such clerk to the chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the presiding circuit judge of the circuit) in which the case is pending. Upon receipt of such request it shall be the duty of the chief judge of the circuit or the presiding circuit judge, as the case may be, to designate immediately three judges in such circuit, of whom at least one shall be a circuit judge and another of whom shall be a district judge of the court in which the proceeding was instituted, to hear and determine such case, and it shall be the duty of the judges so designated to assign the case for hearing at the earliest practicable date, to participate in the hearing and determination thereof, and to cause the case to be in every way expedited. An appeal from the final judgment of such court will lie to the Supreme Court.
In the event the Attorney General fails to file such a request in any such proceeding, it shall be the duty of the chief judge of the district (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) in which the case is pending immediately to designate a judge in such district to hear and determine the case. In the event that no judge in the district is available to hear and determine the case, the chief judge of the district, or the acting chief judge, as the case may be, shall certify this fact to the chief judge of the circuit (or in his absence, the acting chief judge) who shall then designate a district or circuit judge of the circuit to hear and determine the case.
What’s the diversity like at the New York Attorney General’s office? Hmmm….It doesn’t appear to be too many African American investigators or African Americans employed in positions of power there. If so, why haven’t I met one given the severity of William Morris’ wrongdoing? Eric Holder should step in, so he can also investigate the unlawful actions of William Morris’ counsel Loeb & Loeb LLP (including attorneys Michael P. Zweig, Helen Gavaris, Christian Carbone, Tal Dickstein, Michael Barnett and Michael Beck), as well as their co-conspirators (including Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (now known as Dentons LLP), Martin Gold, Raymond Heslin, Richard Primoff, Republican appointed federal judge Robert P. Patterson, the American Arbitration Association, Timothy K. Lewis and many others.
“Much of [Marcus Isaiah Washington’s] theory of his case invokes his desire to achieve the eradication of what he alleges is a White supremacist Jewish regime and the corresponding structural redesign of the political, economic and social order of the United States.” — Arbitrator David L. Gregory’s Partial Final Award, December 17, 2013. pg. 11
Ruth Brown: “No woman has held as exalted a position in the entertainment industry as she does as founder and now president of Queen Booking Corp., one of America’s major talent booking agencies. Prior to Ruth Brown, the only black woman seen in the halls of such competitors as the William Morris Agency and Creative Management Associates [now known as Creative Artists Agency] dealt in mops and pails rather than careers and contracts.”
Ruth Brown represented acts such as Aretha Franklin and throughout her time on Earth, she was able to create a “multi-million dollar black empire.” It’s been 4o years since this article was published in Ebony, but how many African American women have been hired and/or promoted as music Agent at the major talent agencies in Hollywood in that same time span? If I were to make an educated guess, I would say the answer is less than three and none of them were employed in the 21st century. Is this America’s idea of “racial progress”? If the reason for this is NOT racial discrimination, then what explanation can be given to explain why this has happened? What’s the purpose of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if entire industries, especially those with higher paying and higher status positions, continue to remain racially homogeneous in 2014?
Ari[el], Rahm and Ezekiel Emaunel: “The underlying message was that if you were not skilled at the thrust and parry of kitchen table debate, then there was something wrong with you. The Emanuels did not have to accommodate to the world, the world had to accommodate to them.”
The quote is an excerpt from the Emanuel brothers’ new book. NBC’s Brian Williams questioned them about it and check out the interview to see their arrogant response. Read some of the comments if you have time. That additional footage needs to be seen…
Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/ari-emanuel-sends-legal-letter-430572.
Me Against Iniquity: Understanding the Complexities of Global White Supremacy (Racism) Through The Eyes of an Unapologetically BLACK Intellectual 