Scarlett Johansson's plans to portray a transgender man have sparked a backlash from many who object to cisgender actors playing trans roles.
Earlier this week, Johansson was announced to star in "Rub & Tug," a film about prostitution ring leader Dante "Tex" Gill, who was born Lois Jean Gill but identified as a man. Since the announcement, transgender actors and advocates have criticized the production for not casting a trans actor in the role.
Johansson, who's also producing the film, further inflamed critics with a statement that said criticism "can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment." Tambor, Leto and Huffman are all cisgender actors who received acclaim for playing trans characters.
Actress Trace Lysette was among those who disapproved of Johansson's intentions. On Twitter, she wrote: "Not only do you play us and steal our narrative and our opportunity but you pat yourselves on the back with trophies and accolades for mimicking what we have lived."
Famed 'Shoah' director dies
French director Claude Lanzmann, whose 9½-hour masterpiece "Shoah" bore unflinching witness to the Holocaust through the testimonies of Jewish victims, German executioners and Polish bystanders, died at age 92. Gallimard, the publishing house for Lanzmann's autobiography, said he died Thursday morning in Paris. The power of "Shoah," filmed in the 1970s during Lanzmann's trips to the barren Polish landscapes where the slaughter of Jews was planned and executed, was in viewing the Holocaust as an event in the present, rather than as history. It defined the Holocaust for those who saw it, and defined him as a filmmaker. "Shoah" was nearly universally praised. Roger Ebert called it "one of the noblest films ever made" and Time Out and the Guardian were among those ranking it the greatest documentary of all time.
Passing: Broadcasting personality Ed Schultz, whose career took him from quarterbacking at a Minnesota college to national radio and television, has died. He was 64. His son, David Schultz, said his father died of natural causes Thursday in Washington, D.C., where he anchored "News with Ed Schultz" on RT America. Schultz also hosted "The Ed Show" on MSNBC from 2009 to 2015. Schultz was a standout quarterback at Minnesota State University-Moorhead in the 1970s. He went on to a career as a sportscaster around Moorhead, Minn., and Fargo, N.D.
Dropped: James Woods' agent has dropped the actor as a client, citing patriotism. Woods said that his agent, Ken Kaplan, e-mailed him, saying he was "feeling patriotic" and no longer wanted to represent Woods. Woods is among Hollywood's most outspoken conservatives. On Wednesday, his tweets included the allegation that immigration protesters were only Democrats seeking "illegal votes" and a reference to former President Barack Obama as a "stain" on America.
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