Whoopi Goldberg had a message for people criticizing HBO's House of the Dragon and Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for their diverse casts.
As reported by Collider, Goldberg slammed these "fans" on The View, pointing out that the characters "don’t exist in the real world. You know that? There are no dragons. There are no hobbits. Are you telling me Black people can’t be fake people too? Is that what you’re telling me?" She continued, "I don’t know if there’s like a hobbit club, I don’t know if there are gonna be protests, but people! What is wrong with y’all?" She concluded by encouraging those who "have problems because there are Black hobbits" to "Get a job!" and "Go find yourself, because you are focused on the wrong stuff."
Responses to Racism
After trolls criticized the casting of actor Ismael Cruz Córdova in Rings of Power as the Silvan Elf Arondir, one of the show's executive producers Lindsey Weber jumped to his defense, explaining that while the show's creators were "up for criticism" they were "not up for racism."
Others have similarly shut down trolls, including The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman, who pointed out that "Tolkien described the Harfoots as 'browner of skin' than the other hobbits." He added, "So I think anyone grumbling is either racist or hasn't read their Tolkien."
The cast also released an official statement standing in solidarity with Córdova, explaining that they "refuse to ignore [racism] or tolerate it." The message was tweeted with the hashtag "#YouAreAllWelcomeHere."
Steve Toussaint, who plays Lord Corlys Velaryon on HBO's House of the Dragon, was subjected to a similar onslaught of racist abuse after his casting as the wealthiest man in Westeros. On the negative comments, Toussaint said "I didn’t realize [the casting] was a big deal until I was racially abused on social media." He continued, recalling, "I was just like, 'Oh wow,' and then I thought: 'OK, so this means a lot to some people, but I can't allow that to bother me.'"
The first three episodes of House of the Dragon are available to watch on HBO Max, and the first two episodes of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are available to stream on Prime Video. New episodes of both shows are released each week.
Source: Collider