‘I’ve Never Seen Hollywood This Scared and Clueless’ – IndieWire

Issa Rae is calling out Hollywood for being “scared” of introducing creatives.

The “Insecure” showrunner and “American Fiction” and “Barbie” starlet informed Time publication that tasks are relatively just being greenlit for optimum earnings and not virtuosity.

“I’ve never seen Hollywood this scared and clueless, and at the mercy of Wall Street,” Rae claimed. “I’m sorry, but there aren’t a lot of smart executives anymore. And a lot of them have aged out and are holding on to their positions and refusing to let young blood get in.”

Rae proceeded, “Now these conglomerate leaders are also making the decisions about Hollywood. Y’all aren’t creative people. Stick to the money. The people that are taking chances are on platforms like TikTok: that’s what’s getting the eyeballs of the youth. So you’re killing your own industry.”

Rae, that has a general manage WarnerMedia via 2026, included, “When you have all of these streaming services that are competing with each other, it means they’re also moving the goalposts of what success looks like and what their brand is. It’s all mush. I know what my brand identity is and what I want to make. But if that doesn’t align with who’s paying me to make stuff, then that’s complex. We are malleable, but only to an extent.”

The “Awkward Black Girl” maker called it an “ugly” procedure that just one of the most monetarily effective manufacturers can pass one of the most transform.

“I recognize that I have to do well economically to be able to make change,” Rae claimed. “That’s frustrating, that’s ugly. But I recognize that money moves things faster — and so much of what I do is with the intention to help make those moves.”

She included of empires terminating tasks with varied filmmakers, “There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do.”

Rae just recently informed Net-a-Porter that the termination of “so many Black shows” causes “so many executives — especially on the DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] side” obtaining terminated.

“You’re seeing very clearly now that our stories are less of a priority,” Rae claimed. “I am pessimistic, because there’s no one holding anybody accountable — and I can, sure, but also at what cost? I can’t force you to make my stuff. It’s made me take more steps to try to be independent down the line if I have to.”