Since its series premiere in 2016, Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar has been helmed by an all-female directorial team that includes names like Neema Barnette, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Aurora Guerrero. The decision to only hire female directors is a commendable one, as it combats the industry’s ongoing issues with diversity and gender equality; however, not everyone is thrilled about this.
While being honored at the 30th annual Gloria Awards on Thursday, DuVernay spoke about a phone call she received from a friend who warned her about alleged complaints regarding her all-women director lineup. The friend said there were a number of men in the Directors Guild of America who claimed her hiring practices were a form of “discrimination.”
DuVernay had the perfect response. Per Vanity Fair:
“Thank you, friend, thank you for that call. I invite you to tell whoever is feeling discriminated against to sue me so that I can sue every studio that has left women out . . . ’cause we can do this, if that’s what you want to do.”
DuVernay is never shy about saying what she thinks. In fact, her latest thoughts on the all-encompassing Kanye West controversy were a shark rebuke of not only the rapper but R. Kelly as well. "I’ve had it with Kanye West and R. Kelly using the imagery of lynching as rebuttals re: their dastardly behavior," DuVernay tweeted. "Evoking racial terrorism and murder for personal gain/blame is stratospheric in is audacity and ignorance. This is what lynching looked like. How dare they?" Clearly, the movie director is fed up with the foolishness.
