Lin-Manuel Miranda has responded to criticism of In the Heights, saying that it was “fair” for other people to express their opinions.
The Hamilton creator faced scrutiny earlier this year over claims that In the Heights – a musical film written by Miranda and set in New York’s Washington Heights district – had insufficiently represented the area’s Afro-Latinx population.
Miranda apologised earlier this year, telling fans that he was sorry for the “hurt and frustration over colourism” in the film.
Speaking to The New Yorker, Miranda addressed the controversy again.
“Once something has success, you’re not the underdog trying to make it happen anymore,” he said. “You have to graduate past the mind-set of, like, It’s a miracle I got something on the stage. Because now that is expected of me. And people go, ‘Yeah, but what about this? And what about this?’ And that’s fair! I do that with art I find lacking.”
“It’s not cancellation, that’s having opinions,” he added. “So I try to take it in that spirit.”
His latest project is Tick, Tick... Boom!, an adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical that marks Miranda’s directorial film debut. The film stars Andrew Garfield.
Tick, Tick... Boom! is available to stream on Netflix from Friday 19 November.
