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Jessica Chastain Elegantly Roasts CBS's Lack Of Female Leads
Chastain at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
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Actress and producer Jessica Chastain sent out a Tweet on Tuesday that criticized CBS's lack of female representation, and now it's going viral. In the Tweet, Chastain announces plans to "Netflix and chill" instead of partaking in CBS's fall lineup, which includesexactly zero shows with female leads.
I'll just @netflix and chill. Or some @HBO greatness. Or anything by #RyanMurphy
— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) August 2, 2017
There's so many incredible options that dont include @CBS https://t.co/lGGTcZhvMR
CBS has come under fire for what many see as an insufficient commitment to diversity overall, most recently when its series Hawaii Five-0 was accused of paying its Asian-American stars, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, less than their white costars. Thom Sherman, CBS's senior executive vice president of programming, said at a Television Critics Association panel on Tuesday that he was "cognizant of the issue," with CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl adding, “I’m not sure I can speak to why [progress in diversity] is taking longer for CBS." (Don't let the first name "Kelly" get your hopes up; like 94% of senior TV managers, Kahl is male.)
This isn't the first time Chastain has spoken out about the need for increased representation in the entertainment industry; she made headlines at Cannes in May when she called the film festival's depiction of women "disturbing," garnering the support of colleagues from Ava DuVernay to America Ferrera.
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Funnily enough, one of Chastain's first TV roles was a guest spot on the 2005 CBS series Close to Home, which makes her recent call-out of the network all the more satisfying; it's sort of like the Hollywood equivalent of subtweeting your douchebag ex-boyfriend.
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