Issa Ray has been speaking out about her disappointment at Hollywood’s stagnant efforts to tell a wider story. And the situation in that respect has become even more disastrous since she last gave her opinion on the subject.
In her keynote speech on Saturday at South by Southwest, the creators and actresses revisited after many Hollywood diversity, equity and inclusive efforts were shut down or rebranded after the second Trump administration’s tough lineage stance on DEI. “I think diversity requires better public relations,” Ray said. “Anti-DEI, an immediate retraction of any effort to level the arena and focus on our stories. I think it’s a huge misunderstanding and horror.”
Ray joked that her own spokesperson was too busy to take on diversity as a client.
Reflecting some of her past frustrations, she also spoke a little more optimistic about Hollywood executives. (In the 2024 Time Cover Story, she said, “We don’t have many smart executives anymore.”)
“Some of these upcoming executives are fighting to get a new voice despite their work being on the line,” she said. “I admire those who still want diverse stories despite their mandate.”
Ray was one of the first public figures to distance himself from the Kennedy Center in the wake of a Donald Trump coup at the prestigious agency, and named his own chairman. Her feelings about the country’s right-right swing were not made clear during the discussion, but they were certainly hinted at. Ray sees Hollywood numbers speak up too much, as she explained.
“Sometimes, I get to make a voice out to celebrities,” she said. “I just say, ‘Y’all just close the fuck and help people at work…and keep it quiet. It’s the best way to make a change to find someone at the grassroots level and put weight behind them, rather than focusing on themselves.”
Rae was on hand to promote a watched miniseries documenting the history (and exploitation) of black representation on television. We wanted to create an inclusive history so that we could showcase with evidence that this is how they built the success of their network on our backs,” Ray said. “And we have little to show because it is tragic. The repeat of history is all I say.”
But there was optimism, especially when the conversation turned into her recent success as a producer, the SZA-Keke Palmer comedy, one of them. Jacqueline Coley, editor of the Rotten Tomatoes Awards, asked how he approached skepticism about the project.
“You approach it with a lot of frustration,” Ray explained. “We just wanted the opportunity to succeed. Getting a theatrical release was already a huge milestone for us.”
One day still in the theatres has already won nearly $50 million on a modest budget. He hit HBO and Max later this year after seeing a screen he saw on South by Southwest on Saturday evening.
