A mass exodus of Black women from senior leadership posts across Hollywood during the last few weeks is raising questions about the depth of the film and television industry’s commitment to diversifying the top ranks of the entertainment industry. The high-profile departures have sparked outrage on social media, with mounting concerns that major studios are only performing lip service after pledging to elevate more people of color to positions of influence.
In the last month, six Black women executives in prominent leadership roles have abruptly left their positions in the studio system. Many oversaw DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) departments, putting them on the frontlines of larger effort to change corporate cultures and hiring practices. The exits include Karen Horne, who led DEI efforts at Warner Bros. Discovery and Jeanell English, executive VP of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The other prominent executives are Netflix’s Vernā Myers, the streamer’s first head of inclusion; Disney’s LaTondra Newton, chief diversity officer and senior VP; and another Warner Bros. executive, Terra Potts, EVP of worldwide marketing. On Monday, Joanna Abeyie, the BBC’s creative diversity director, joined their ranks. And even though the steady stream of departures is alarming, multiple industry sources tell PvNew that more BIPOC executives are expected to join them in the coming weeks.
So what’s happening? Multiple sources say the exits are being prompted by a mixture of frustrations over a lack of financial support and resources, unnecessary roadblocks that prevent these executives from having a meaningful impact and more importantly, an overwhelming cultural exhaustion that has plagued Black leaders. I view it as akin to the pendulum swing we experienced after the election of Barack Obama in 2008 led to the rise of Donald Trump in 2016. To be clear, there’s no evidence that these companies set out to oust their Black female executives. However, when corporations tighten their money belts, DEI initiatives are often first on the chopping block. That can’t be coincidental, right?
When Netflix implemented its first round of layoffs following subscriber decreases, the company significantly reduced staff support for some of the streamer’s DEI initiatives that targeted underrepresented communities including Con Todo (Latinx) and Strong Black Lead.
In the case of Warner Bros.’ Horne, her departure is said to be the result of restructuring, not recent layoffs, via a memo sent by Asif Sadiq, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of DEI. WBD is moving to transform its system by having people in the different regions focus on employee initiatives. It’s still unclear if a segmented and localized approach will be as effective as company-wide one.
The rest of the executives all resigned of their own volition, many without sharing news of their next professional ventures. When you examine their departures closely, the reports and releases are littered with PR-speak at a level that raises far more questions than answers about the future DEI strategy at these companies.
The environment was very different in June 2020, when public outrage over the murder of George Floyd led to companies sharing black squares on social media and commitments from media conglomerates and other companies to “do better” when it came to diversifying. Well, three years later, it’s starting to feel like they’re done “trying.”
Now that affirmative action in college admissions has been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, there are parallel concerns that companies may be emboldened to abandon hiring initiatives aimed at recruiting employees from underrepresented communities.
This impact is deeply felt because there are already so few Black women in leadership positions. I often talk about “the bench” in the business, which refers to the mid-level and up-and-comers ready to be the new leaders in film, television and other forms of popular entertainment. Hollywood seems to be taking a step back from that investment. There are already so few women, especially Black women, in leadership positions, so when we lose one, it’s pronounced. Imagine losing six in a month?
The data here can be instructive. The 2022 Women in the Workplace report by McKinsey & Co. looks at data and insights from 333 participating organizations (not only Hollywood), employing over 12 million people and collects survey responses from over 40,000 workers. The report reveals that only one in four C-suite leaders is a woman, and only one in 20 (5%) is a woman of color. It concludes: “We’re amid a ‘Great Breakup.’ Women are demanding more from work and leaving their companies in unprecedented numbers to get it.”
That rings true to one former studio executive, who tells PvNew, “Black women are not allowed to be difficult, vulnerable, weak or challenging. We must be perfect, have unlimited understanding, and continuously validate a white person’s guilt and empty gestures on how we’re fixing things. It’s exhausting, and I’m fucking tired.”
People are beginning to notice, but that awareness may be coming too late. At this moment, there seems to be too much interest in trying to spin these exits and not enough focus on supporting Black women in leadership. From the outside, journalists don’t give as much coverage to these vital internal efforts as we do to scandals and trailers and premiere dates. But in this case, the responsibility rests with the industry’s largest employers to do more to elevate the good work that is getting done.
At AMPAS, English’s departure comes one year after CEO Bill Kramer’s promotion. It also comes after the organization named Meredith Shea, a white woman, as chief membership, impact and industry officer, who, in addition to overseeing administrative and budgetary items for the Academy, is now charged with leading diversity efforts. Shea worked at the Academy for a decade overseeing several branches’ submissions and rules. She left in 2021 to join Ava DuVernay’s Array before re-joining the Academy’s senior leadership team. AMPAS at present does not have any Black or Latino C-suite staff beyond Academy Museum president and director Jacqueline Stewart (though there are BIPOC department heads who report directly to Kramer). But the Academy isn’t an outlier. According to a study by Zippia, 76% of chief diversity officers are white across all professional disciplines.
Across the industry, precious few Black executives hold C-suite positions. Among them are Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of Universal Studio Group; Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of WBTV and Nicole Brown, president of TriStar Pictures. These three can’t do it alone, and we can’t put all our hopes and dreams for change on their shoulders.
When English announced her “first career sabbatical,” she also provided a poignant reminder for Black women and advocates: “I remind you, my community, to find the time to recharge. You matter as much as the work. The work happens through you. And the work is only getting more challenging, so let’s bring our best, rested selves forward. We are needed now more than ever.”
Self care is important for queens, but we can’t let them give up their reign. Their absence at the highest levels of Hollywood decision-making will be too painful to bear.
(Pictured top: Karen Horne, Jeanell English and Vernā Myers)
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