Film producer Amy Pascal has said that she has “no recollection” of the events that actor Thandie Newton describes as the reason she quit Charlie’s Angels.
This week, the Line of Duty star alleged to Vulture that she quit Charlie’s Angels following a meeting with Pascal. According to Newton, the film producer began “reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character”.
Pascal allegedly felt that the character – who was written as having been to university and was educated – would need to be changed if Newton took the role.
When Newton pointed out that she was educated and had studied at Cambridge, Pascal apparently said: “Yeah, but you’re different.”
“‘Maybe there could be a scene where you’re in a bar and [the character] gets up on a table and starts shaking her booty,’” Newton recalled Pascal as suggesting.
In a statement posted on Vulture, Pascal – who is behind films including Little Women, The Post and Molly’s Game – said she was “horrified” to hear Newton’s description of their meeting.
“While I take her words seriously, I have no recollection of the events she describes, nor do any of her representatives who were present at that casting session,” Pascal said.
The film producer and business executive added: “I’ve long considered Thandie a friend; I’m thankful that I’ve had the chance to make movies with her; and I hope to work with her again in the future.”
In the interview, Newton told the journalist she felt it would not surprise people that Pascal was the person who made the comments.
In 2015, Pascal was fired from her role as head of Sony Pictures after the Sony email hack that revealed a series of emails between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin.
The email exchange showed Pascal and Rudin suggesting that Barack Obama would prefer films starring Black people like Django Unchained and 12 Years a Slave. Pascal issued a public apology over the emails.
