A few days ago, the “Straight Outta Compton” casting notice hit the internet, and the racially insensitive and stereotypical language incensed more than a few people. Now, the agency, Sande Alessi Casting, has issued an apology for the language in their call.
Kristan Berona of Sande Alessing wrote in a Facebook post: “I would like to sincerely apologize for recently posting a casting announcement that used offensive language to recruit women for a film our agency is working on. My intention was not to offend anyone and I’m deeply sorry for not realizing the insensitivity in its content.”
Universal Pictures, the film’s studio, issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter about the casting notice. Apparently, the studio was not affiliated with the notice, and didn’t approve or know about the call before it was sent out.
The statement read: “Universal Pictures and the filmmakers for ‘Straight Outta Compton’ did not approve and do not condone the information in this casting notice. We regret and sincerely apologize for being in any way associated with the offensive descriptions it contained.”
For those who missed the outrage, the call divided women by attractiveness from A through D, and included racial descriptions alongside these rankings. It also included a call for male “street thugs” that definitely reinforced stereotypes about who thugs are and what they look like.
The film will be a biopic about the influential rap group N.W.A., who included Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren and DJ Yella.
F. Gary Gray will be directing and Ice Cube ‘s son O’Shea Jackson Jr. will play his father in the film. Jason Mitchell stars as Eazy-E and Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre. The film is set to release on August 14, 2015.
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