Ayo Edebiri Says Me Too Movement and Black Lives Matter Aren’t ‘Done’

Ayo Edebiri had to take the proverbial mic and answer a question about Black Lives Matter directed to her white co-stars, Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts, at a press junket for their new film, After the Hunt. They gladly handed it over in now-viral footage of Italian reporter Federica Polidoro asking what was “lost during the politically correct era” of Me Too and BLM. The Luca Guadagnino film follows a professor (Roberts) as she struggles to accept an accusation that her friend (Garfield) sexually assaulted her protégée (Edebiri). Based on the word from the Venice Film Festival, the movie doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations (the credits are specifically in Woody Allen’s signature font), and neither do the stars. The journalist has since released a statement addressing the phrasing of the question. Below, a break down of the awkward interview and how Edebiri handled it expertly.

What was asked, exactly?

A video posted by Italian site ArtsLife TV shows Polidoro asking Garfield and Roberts what “to expect in Hollywood after the Me Too movement and the Black Lives Matter are done.” Roberts, dumbfounded, asked a clarifying question. “Can you repeat that?” she asked. “And with your sunglasses on, I can’t tell which of us you’re talking to.” The reporter repeated that the question was for Garfield and Roberts — not Edebiri — and asked “if we lost something with the politically correct era.” The stars looked shocked. Garfield blinked in shock a few times before rocketing out of his chair for a split second, then spinning around to uncomfortably look at his co-stars. 

How did Edebiri respond?

Edebiri interjected. “I know that that’s not for me, and I don’t know if it’s purposeful if it’s not for me,” she said. “I don’t think it’s done, I don’t think it’s done at all. Hashtags might not be used as much but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people every day that’s beautiful, important work. That’s not finished, that’s really, really active for a reason because this world’s really charged. And that work isn’t finished at all.” Garfield backed her up, saying both “movements are still absolutely alive.” 

Edebiri added that media attention may skew people’s perception of what is or is not happening on the ground. “Maybe if there’s not mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been, daily headlines in the way that it might have been eight or so years ago, but I don’t think it means that the work is done. That’s what I would say.” If she was asked. 

Has the journalist said anything?

Polidoro responded to the controversy without apologizing on September 7. “Following an interview, I have been subjected to personal insults and attacks because of a question that, for some reason, was not well received by some members of the public,” Polidoro wrote on social media. “I find it striking that those who unjustly accuse me of racism and consider themselves custodians of justice find acceptable violent language, personal attacks, and cyberbullying.” She decried people who were focusing on her question and not “the thoughtful responses of Ayo Edebiri, Julia Roberts, and Andrew Garfield.” 

She added that “I would like to clarify that in my work I have interviewed people of every background and ethnicity, and my own family is multi-ethnic, matriarchal, and feminist, with a significant history of immigration.” She continued, “In my view, the real racists are those who see racism everywhere and seek to muzzle journalism, limiting freedom of analysis, critical thinking, and the plurality of perspectives.” Polidoro ended by reserving “the right to seek legal protection against those who, in recent days, have chosen to hide behind the digital mob to insult and attack me instead of seeking a civil and constructive discussion.”