Riverdale’s Vanessa Morgan just got vocal about her treatment on the show, and the larger portrayal of black actors in the media.
Following the murder of George Floyd and the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that have since spread globally, Morgan said she’s “Not being quiet anymore.”
The 28-year-old is the only black series regular on the CW show, playing the biracial and bisexual character, Toni Topaz. “Tired of how black people are portrayed in media,” Morgan wrote in a note that she shared on Twitter.
“Tired of us being portrayed as thugs, dangerous or angry scary people. Tired of us also being used as sidekick non-dimensional characters to our white leads. Or only used in the ads for diversity, but not actually in the show. It starts with the media,” Morgan noted. “I’m not being quite anymore,” she added. (Morgan later corrected herself, tweeting, “I meant quiet.”)
And if there was any doubt as to whether or not Morgan felt those comments applied to her own work on Riverdale, the actress did not shy away from calling out the show. When one person responded to Morgan’s tweet, she was quick to reply.
“Imagine they're getting so much more bang for their buck [because you’re] part of an LGBT storyline too, double the diversity,” they wrote, adding that her paycheck should be doubled.
“Too bad I’m the only black series regular but also paid the least,” Morgan wrote, adding, “Girl, I could go on for days.”
In a later tweet, Morgan clarified that her comments were not directed towards any of her castmates. “My role on Riverdale has nothing to do with my fellow castmates/friends,” she wrote.
“They don’t write the show. So no need to attack them, they don’t call the shots and I know they have my back,” she added, to which Riverdale star Lili Reinhart responded, “We love you, V. And support you 10000%.”
Reinhart also posted live from the LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Black Lives Matter protest on Instagram on Wednesday. Before attending the protest she posted on her Instagram stories, "Although I've never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman. And I will be joining this protest today. Come join."
Morgan also shared that she would use her platform to continue pushing for equal representation in the media. “To my black fans, I have now made it my purpose to fight for us. To the six-year-old me who had no role model that looked like me on TV. This is for you,” she wrote on Twitter.
“We aren’t your token black non-dimensional characters. This is being black in Hollywood. I will fight for YOU,” Morgan said, later adding, “I will no longer take roles that don’t properly represent us.”
