Here is Donald Trump’s legacy in broadcasting. We know he hates “DEI.” But now diversity in media is just being ignored by people who could do something about it.
CBS News’s Bari Weiss, a Trump puppet, has hired five new investigative journalists. Not to say they aren’t well qualified. But they have one matching feature: they are all white.
They are former Washington Post journalist Daniel Gilbert, The Free Press writer Gabe Kaminsky, and CBS News’ Laura Geller, Jake Rosenwasser and Callie Teitelbaum.
You may notice that four of the five are also Jewish. I support Israel and I’m Jewish. But even I have to say, this is overkill. It’s too much. And it’s embarrassing that Weiss is conducting business in this way. She’s already done so much damage to CBS News shows. But now she’s narrowed the focus preposterously. She’s succumbed to Trump’s clouded vision of America.
At the same time, HBO’s “The White Lotus” has announced more cast members for Season 4, which will be shot in St. Tropez and environs. Except for the great Rosie Perez, the similarity of the cast is astounding. I suppose they don’t care if they have a single Black or POC viewer.
There are only three non white people in this group: Dylan Ennis is actually African American. Corentin Fila is Franco-Congolese. The very talented Oscar nominee Kumail Nanjiani is Pakistan-American.
The rest –Heather Graham, Ben Schnetzer, Tobias Santelmann, Frida Gustavsson and Laura Smet have been added to Chloe Bennet, Sandra Bernhard, Helena Bonham Carter, Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Caleb Jonte Edwards, Ari Graynor, Max Greenfield, Charlie Hall, Marissa Long, Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina, AJ Michalka, Jarrad Paul and Nadia Tereszkiewicz.
It’s not to begrudge these people jobs. But this season is being filmed in France. I’ve been there a lot in my life thanks to the Cannes Film Festival. It’s a pretty diverse area. The American tourists are not all white. The many international visitors come from all over the world, including a lot from Asia. What a shame for “White Lotus” to miss the opportunity of having a multicultural cast.
Donald Trump has really set this country back in ways that will be hard to recover from. It’s easy for me to say, but if you were a Black or Asian actor or journalist training for a career or at a point where these jobs were goals, these choices are blocked now by the equivalent of border walls. That’s what Trump is about: keeping everyone out.
