Actor Penn Badgley: Too Many ‘Privileged Ass White People’ in Hollywood

Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley called out Hollywood and the overwhelming amount of “privileged ass white people” in the entertainment industry in a new interview, attacking its lack of diversity.

“If anybody exists at any kind of intersection of oppression beyond the box of white male, I’d say let’s make damn sure that they’re being represented by the people who have lived this experience [and] not have people who haven’t lived the experience portraying them,” Penn Badgley told PinkNews.

Badgley also sounded off on the controversy around “privileged” actors playing the roles of “marginalized” characters.

“In theory, in a totally just society, yeah, anybody can play anybody and that would be great,” he said, adding, “But that’s not the world we live in. We live in a world that does not [recognize] virtually anyone outside of the white male or the beautiful white woman who has to be an object of desire and affection.”

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A beautiful Dormeuil wool #bespokesuit made by my friend Craig @robinsonbrooklyn whose shop I used to live above. Why now, of all times, to post something like this? Bc Craig asked me to. Sup Craig. ALSO consider everything we do before & after we vote is a decision to spend time, energy or money. I know exactly where it’s going with @robinsonbrooklyn and his is a small business I want to support. Thanks again, Craig! #pinksocks

A post shared by Penn Badgley (@pennbadgley) on Oct 9, 2018 at 7:30am PDT

The 32-year-old also simply attacked white actors, saying, “In reality, we have basically, like, privileged ass white people playing everybody, and so we need to stop that.”

The debate over whether actors should be taking roles that don’t match their actual gender and race has become a hot topic in Hollywood over the last few years.

This summer, actress Scarlett Johansson was cast to play the role of a transgender character in the film Rub & Tug, but after social media outrage, she backed out of the role because she was not transgender.

“In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project,” she said.

“Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive.”