Sir Lenny Henry has issued a warning to the TV industry, while calling for bosses to include more diversity both on and off screen.
The comedian and presenter, 62, is calling for systemic change, after being inspired by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May last year, and has penned a book on how to achieve diversity in TV and on a wider scale.
In his release, titled Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond, Sir Lenny says Floyd’s death made him realise the need for ‘fundamental’ systemic change.
Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest where a white police officer had knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
His death sparked global protests calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality, with Sir Lenny sharing his thoughts, as he writes: ‘What we are trying to achieve is power. What we need is fundamental, integral, systemic change.’
Targeting the TV industry, the Broadchurch star warned terrestrial TV channels that viewers may switch off due to the lack of diversity on screen, reports The Times.
Sir Lenny – who was previously married to Dawn French – also reflects on his own experience in the TV industry and says he is often the only Black man at work meetings, writing: ‘A lot of the time at work, I am lonely. Very lonely.’
He argues that viewers from minority backgrounds are more likely to favour streaming services, as platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video ‘do a better job at representing their lives’.
Warning bosses that changes need to be made when it comes to diversity both on and off camera, Sir Lenny says: ‘If British broadcasters don’t tackle the diversity grey rhino now, they run the risk of losing large parts of their audience forever.’
Sir Lenny’s book, which he co-wrote with former Chair of the Royal Television Society’s Diversity Committee Marcus Ryder, has been described as a manifesto to ‘shift the debate around diversity and the media’.
In the title, the pair outline the current diversity efforts within the media and why they haven’t worked, while offering solutions to get the industry back on track.
Its release comes after Sir Lenny praised Comic Relief for deciding to stop sending white celebrities to Africa as part of its charity relief efforts.
The Comic Relief initiative, which Sir Lenny set up in 1985 alongside filmmaker Richard Curtis, faced backlash for sending Stacey Dooley to Uganda in 2019 – as many accused Comic Relief of perpetuating the ‘white saviour’ stereotype.
The star said he was ‘proud’ that instead Comic Relief will invest in ‘local talent’, as he stated in October: ‘Investing in local talent across Africa to tell stories from their communities is great and a much-needed step forward but as always there is more that can be done.
‘The energy and passion for change and new perspectives is there in bucket loads. African people don’t want us to tell their stories for them, what they need is more agency, a platform and partnership.’
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