Ayo Edibiri is being applauded for her response after a journalist appeared to exclude her from a question about the MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter.
Edibiri was at Venice Film Festival last week promoting her latest film, Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, alongside co-star Andrew Garfield and Julia Roberts.
In a video now widely circulating on social media, Italian journalist Federica Polidoro asks Garfield and Roberts what “to expect in Hollywood after the MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter are done.”
A confused-looking Roberts then asks the journalist to repeat the question and for her to remove her sunglasses, saying, “I can’t tell which of us you’re talking to.”
In the clip posted by the Italian site ArtsLife TV, Polidoro repeats the question, “for Julia and Andrew,” further asking, “if we lost something with the politically correct era,” while Edibiri appears visibly baffled.
Edebiri then interjects, “I know that that’s not for me, and I don’t know if it’s purposeful if it’s not for me.
“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.”
She continued, “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.”
The video has since gone viral on X, with viewers lambasting the interviewer for excluding Edibiri from the question about BLM and MeToo while focusing on her white co-stars.
“The beautiful fortitude it takes for Ayo Edibiri here to afford an undeserving interviewer grace while still delivering an unyielding response will be understood by countless black and brown women as the microaggressions they endure way too often,” wrote one person.
Another pointed out, “One thing we’re not talking enough about: how Ayo Edebiri *had* to be gracious in dealing with this appalling behavior and question because she would’ve been criticized for being ‘unprofessional’ or ‘rude’ or every other dogwhistle in the bag.”
“The deep seething frustration im feeling from an interviewer intentionally talking about black lives matter and addressing the question to the non black people on the panel,” another raged.
In a lengthy statement shared on Instagram on Sunday, Polidoro addressed the backlash, saying she had “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.
“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 continued.
Polidoro refused to apologize for the interaction, saying, “To date, I am not aware of any protocol that dictates the order in which questions must be asked in an interview.”
The Independent has contacted Edibiri’s representatives for comment.
After the Hunt is out in theaters October 10. It follows college professor Alma Olsson (Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroad when a star student (Edibiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Garfield), threatening to expose a dark secret from her own past.
