Tyler Perry Says ‘I Don’t Want To Have Black People In Seats They Were Not Ready For’ While Talking About Diversity Concerns In Hollywood 

Tyler Perry Says ‘I Don’t Want To Have Black People In Seats They Were Not Ready For’ While Talking About Diversity Concerns In Hollywood 

Tyler Perry is all for Hollywood expanding its inclusion, but his biggest hope is that those put in the position to represent will be equipped enough to do so.

While premiering his new film, A Jazzman’s Blues, which is set to hit Netflix on September 23, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Tyler Perry shared his views on the modern-day agenda for on-screen diversity.

Tyler Perry

Although ecstatic to see how the business is evolving for people of color, Tyler Perry couldn’t help but voice his concerns about how the extreme need for inclusivity could overshadow the proper training required for industry hopefuls.

“Let me be very careful on how I say this, be diplomatic. I’m extremely excited for what’s happened with diversity and the choices and opportunities that we’re seeing for black people for the first time, it is amazing. But I worry because there is such a push for diversity and push for hiring people of color that I found situations that there are people being pushed into seats they’re not ready for.”

The 52-year-old continued by weighing in on his own protocols at Tyler Perry Studios.

“At Tyler Perry Studios, we train so many people, we’ve brought people in and they do an amazing job, but as soon as people are trained and they know the job, they’re snatched up to go to some bigger production, which is fine because if you want to find people who know their job, if they can make it at my studio they can make it anywhere.”

Perry then went on to further express the importance of creatives being given the right tools to hone their craft in order to reach their fullest potential.

“What I don’t want to have is black people in seats that we weren’t ready for, and then have people that are not black that were moved out of seats. If we didn’t get qualifications, the teaching, or the education to get there, then how are we given the seats so quickly? It’s my hope that in all of this change and this push for there to be more inclusion, we’re also providing time and training to make sure we can do a great job.”

Tyler Perry

If you’ve been following Perry’s career for quite some time, then you’d know that most of his work caters to the Black audience. However, he’s never silenced himself in regard to the issues that have arisen within the community. During an episode of Kevin Hart’s Peacock show, Hart to Heart, the Madea phenomenon suggested that the urban public could’ve possibly played a part in Whitney Houston’s downfall.

“When I think about somebody who I love dearly is Whitney [Houston], I did all I could to try and help her, man. Whitney Houston. She—I believe she still would have been alive today had we not tried to make her into something she wasn’t.”

Kevin Hart

The filmmaker added to that by referencing her 1989 Soul Train Awards appearance, where she was booed by audience members:

“Her being booed at the Soul Train Awards was one of the worst things that could have happened to her in her life. People saying she’s ‘white’ or she’s this or she’s that, made her want to show… she came to this industry very young, but it made her want to show that she was something different.”

Whitney Houston (circa 2008)

Deemed one of the greatest female singers of all time, Whitney Houston passed away on February 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. Her cause of death was later labeled as an accidental drowning that stemmed from heart disease and cocaine usage.

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