*Director/producer Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith have pulled the production of their forthcoming film “Emancipation” out of Georgia due to the state’s newly restrictive voting 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,” the pair said in a joint statement obtained by CNN. “We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access.”
“The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting,” Fuqua and Smith added. “Regrettably, we feel compelled to move our film production work from Georgia to another state.”
The new Georgia elections law was signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in March and Democrats and advocacy groups have argued that it disproportionately affects minorities. President Joe Biden referred to it as “Jim Crow on steroids” in an interview with ESPN and said he would support Manfred if he decided to move the game.
READ MORE: Stacey Abrams Says Georgia Governor Kemp Wants a Boycott So He’ll Have ‘Someone to Blame’
Meanwhile, per CBS, Black clergymen around the state and voting-rights advocates have called out major corporations for their silence over Georgia’s new voting law. The criticism prompted top executives at Georgia-based Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines as well as JPMorgan Chase to issue statements that call the legislation “wrong” and “based on a lie” that Trump loss the 2020 presidential election because Joe Biden cheated.
As EURweb previously reported, Major League Baseball wants nothing to do with Georgia … as far its all-star game is concerned.
The league is moving the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta as backlash grows over a new Georgia law that is seen as nothing less than voter suppression.
“I have determined the best way to demonstrate our value as a sport is relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
“MLB fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”
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