Tyler Perry Says Georgia’s Voting Law “Harkens in the Jim Crow Era” – Deadline

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Tyler Perry, who owns the massive Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta and is one of Georgia’s largest employers of film and television workers, denounces the state’s recently passed restrictive voter law, calling it ” unconstitutional ”and“ reminiscent of the Jim Crow Era. “

The new law, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed last week, has stricter identification rules for mail-in ballots, restricts the use of drop boxes like those implemented in the 2020 election, and gives officials of state electoral councils the ability to override local councils. It is also a crime to offer food or water to voters waiting in line.

Voting rights organizations say the law targets voters of color in the state, which was the epicenter of the November election that saw him vote in two Democratic senators in contentious ballots. Joe Biden also brought Georgia to the presidential election, the first time a Democrat has done so since 1992.

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“As a Georgia resident and business owner, I’ve been here a few times with the anti-abortion bill and the LGBTQ discrimination bill,” Perry said in a statement Tuesday. “They all sent a shock wave across Georgia and the country, but none of them succeeded. I hope the DOJ takes a close look at this unconstitutional voter suppression law reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.

President Biden said the Justice Department is “reviewing” the law. “We’re working on this right now,” Biden told reporters last Friday when asked. “We don’t know exactly what we can do at this point.” Biden himself has denounced the law, calling it un-American, “a blatant attack on the Constitution” and “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” Civic groups including The New Georgia Project, a nonprofit voter registration group, Black Voters Matter Fund, Rise, Common Cause and others as well as the NAACP and ACLU have sued. There have been growing calls for a boycott of Atlanta companies like Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola which critics say have not done enough to block the law.

Earlier this week, the National Black Justice Coalition urged the PGA Tour to boycott next month’s major Masters golf tournament, which takes place annually in Augusta, Ga., On voting law. Other sports leagues will likely consider options, including Major League Baseball, which is expected to host its All-Star Game in Atlanta this year.

Perry appeared to be packing the boycott speech. “While some are considering boycotting,” he continued, “remember we made Georgia blue and there’s a race for governors on the horizon – that’s the beauty of a democracy.”

Outgoing Republican Kemp has announced he will stand for re-election in 2022. He could face a major challenge after being heated by former President Donald Trump for refusing to overturn the 2020 election results in the ‘State.

Perry’s comments come as a Hollywood industry so heavily invested in Georgia is once again weighing on its shares in the state. Director James Mangold tweeted that he will no longer be directing films in Peach State due to the new voting law. Actor Mark Hamill backed him up.

But it’s not yet clear whether there will be anything that resembles the massive industry outcry in 2019 and last year after Governor Kemp passed a very restrictive abortion law. Several productions have left the state. The law, which was criticized by immediate litigation, never came into force and a federal judge ruled it unconstitutional last summer. He is currently on appeal.

It banned abortion if there was a “detectable human heartbeat,” which is possible with an ultrasound as early as six weeks pregnant, or before many women realize they are pregnant. Bob Iger, then CEO of Disney, has said publicly that it would be difficult to film in Georgia if the law takes effect. Netflix voiced the same sentiment, as did WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, AMC Networks, Sony, CBS, and Viacom (which had yet to merge in 2019 when adopted). JJ Abrams, Jordon Peele, Peter Chernin, Alyssa Milano, Christine Vachon, David Simon and others have also spoken.

“It was immediately a threat,” said a person involved in Georgia’s entertainment industry. Now, he said, “Things still look like business as usual. As production resumes, there could be as many as 60 projects filming in the state, more than ever before, he said.

Perry’s 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios is located in the heart of Atlanta on the grounds of the former Fort McPherson military base, with 40 buildings, 12 sound stages, 200 acres of green space and a backlot. He was among the first to use a bubble model during the Covid pandemic to fire hundreds of actors and crew to work on his various projects.

He has also been active in the Atlanta community. In April 2020, as the pandemic escalated, he donated $ 21,000 to 42 jobless waiters in Houston on Northside Parkway, one of his favorite restaurants. Weeks later, he anonymously picked up the tabs at 44 Krogers in the Atlanta area during the store’s designated shopping hour for seniors and at-risk customers.



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