Will Smith pulled the production of his movie Emancipation from Georgia because of the state’s new voting integrity law.
“At this moment in time, the Nation is coming to terms with its history and is attempting to eliminate vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true racial justice,” Smith said in a joint statement with director Antoine Fuqua.
“We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access,” they added. “The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting. Regrettably, we feel compelled to move our film production work from Georgia to another state.”
The drama was slated to begin filming in June and is the first major production to leave the state over the new law.
‘HOME RUN’: HOLLYWOOD LIBERALS REJOICE AFTER MLB MOVES ALL-STAR GAME FROM GEORGIA OVER ELECTION LAW
Corporations, Democrats, and celebrities have formed a chorus slamming the law in recent weeks, including when a handful of celebrities pushed for a Hollywood boycott of the state.
ABSOLUTELY! ???????????#NoMoreFilmingInGeogia https://t.co/VsKLEkXhEf
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) March 27, 2021
Celebrities also lauded Major League Baseball when it moved its All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, citing the law.
You reap what you sow. https://t.co/lMPkQyrhA8
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) April 2, 2021
#GeorgiaVoterSuppression is an existential crisis. #MLB made a powerful decision to stand AGAINST voter suppression. They will go down in the books as being on the right side of history. https://t.co/WFAasjYQtA
— Debra Messing✍? (@DebraMessing) April 2, 2021
Republicans hit back at the boycotts from corporations, with former President Donald Trump saying it’s time for conservatives to conduct their own boycott on liberal-led businesses.
“For years the Radical Left Democrats have played dirty by boycotting products when anything from that company is done or stated in any way that offends them. Now they are going big time with WOKE CANCEL CULTURE and our sacred elections. It is finally time for Republicans and Conservatives to fight back — we have more people than they do — by far! Boycott Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck. Don’t go back to their products until they relent,” Trump wrote in a statement this month.
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President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has slammed Georgia’s new law.
“It’s an atrocity,” Biden told reporters last month. “If you want any indication that it has nothing to do with fairness, nothing to do with decency, they passed a law saying you can’t provide water to people standing in line while they’re waiting to vote. You don’t need anything else to know that this is nothing but punitive, designed to keep people from voting. You can’t provide water for people about to vote. Give me a break.”
