After issuing a controversial casting call last week that came off slightly racist and misogynistic, the casting company for the NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton” has issued an apology. Find out the whole story after the jump!
The initial casting call was posted by Sande Allesi Casting through Facebook on Wednesday (July 16th) and has since been taken down. It read:
SAG OR NON UNION CASTING NOTICE FOR FEMALES-ALL ETHNICITIES- from the late 80’s. Shoots on “Straight Outta Compton”. Shoot date TBD. We are pulling photos for the director of featured extras. VERY IMPORTANT – You MUST live in the Los Angeles area (Orange County is fine too) to work on this show. DO NOT SUBMIT if you live out of the area. Nobody is going to be flying into LA to do extra work on this show – and don’t tell me you are willing to fly in.
SAG OR NON UNION FEMALES – PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN. DO NOT EMAIL IN FOR MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY:
A GIRLS: These are the hottest of the hottest. Models. MUST have real hair – no extensions, very classy looking, great bodies. You can be black, white, asian, hispanic, mid eastern, or mixed race too. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: [email protected] subject line should read: A GIRLS
B GIRLS: These are fine girls, long natural hair, really nice bodies. Small waists, nice hips. You should be light-skinned. Beyonce is a prototype here. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: [email protected] subject line should read: B GIRLS
C GIRLS: These are African American girls, medium to light skinned with a weave. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: [email protected] subject line should read: C GIRLS
D GIRLS: These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone. Character types. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: [email protected] subject line should read: D GIRLS
Then after major backlash, two days laters (July 18th) Kristian Berona of Sande Alessi Casting took to the same Facebook page to post this apology:
This is Kristan from Sande Alessi Casting. I’ve been wanting to say this for two days and now I can.
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 so deeply sorry for not realizing the insensitivity in its content. I’m truly so sorry.
Universal pictures also released a statement to the Hollywood Reporter to deny all involvement in the casting call. “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,” it read.
