John Leguizamo spoke out for greater diversity and representation in Hollywood at the Emmy Awards, saying he's a “DEI hire.”
“I'm John Leguizamo, and I'm one of Hollywood's DEI adopters,” Leguizamo said onstage at the Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday.
“That's right, DEI. 'd' stands for diligence, 'e' stands for excellence and 'i' stands for imagination,” the “John Wick” actor said.
“So we're all DEI adopters,” Leguizamo told the Emmys audience.
Earlier this year, several Republican lawmakers argued that Vice President Harris' gender and race made her unqualified, calling the hire a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offense.
Leguizamo said that as a teenager he “didn't know the word 'representation'” and “saw a lot of brownface,” citing Al Pacino's role as a Cuban gangster in the 1983 film “Scarface” and Marlon Brando “playing a Mexican” in the 1952 film “Viva Zapata!” as examples.
“Everyone played us but us,” said Leguizamo, star of Broadway's “Latin History for Morons.”
“At the end of the day, not complaining doesn't change anything, so that's why I've been complaining for the past few years,” Leguizamo said, noting that he took out a full-page ad in The New York Times.Earlier this year“We ask Emmy voters to recognize nominees of color.”
“I'm mostly happy with it, and there's definitely less anger,” Leguizamo said of the 76 candidates.NumberThe annual Emmy Awards ceremony saw the “most diverse list of nominees” in the awards' history.
“But we need more stories from marginalized groups: black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities,” said Leguizamo, 64.
“And tonight's show proved that our industry is moving forward.”
