Actress Meryl Streep has created a controversy by saying “we’re all Africans, really,” while speaking about the issue of the lack of diversity in Hollywood.
Streep is the latest celebrity to get into hot water while trying to tackle the #OscarsSoWhite issue, following Schindler’s List producer Gerald Molen, actor Michael Caine and actress Charlotte Rampling.
Rampling said the controversy and the decision by many entertainers of color to skip this year’s Oscars is “racist.”
Streep was speaking at the Berlin Film Festival, where she is serving as the jury president. The judging panel at the festival is made up of all white men and women.
“I’ve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures,” Streep said. “There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all we’re all from Africa originally. Berliners, we’re all Africans really.”
Reaction to her comments has made Streep a trending topic on Twitter for most of the day Thursday. Here is some of what is being said about her quote:
