“This was misguided casting choice”: Emma Stone’s Controversial Casting in $26.3M Film Led Film Director to Issue a Public Apology

Hollywood has been whitewashing roles and stealing opportunities from minority communities for a long time. Although Scarlett Johansson faced the most brutal trolls following her supposed appearance as a trans man, Emma Stone also became a part of a lesser-known controversy following her bizarre casting in the $26.3M Cameron Crowe film.

Emma Stone
Selected to play the part-Asian Hawaiian role in the controversial “whitewashed” romance movie Aloha, Emma Stone faced severe criticism while Cameron Crowe had to apologize for his decision. The Oscar-winning filmmaker was accused of stealing opportunities from minorities while promising to promote diversity in the industry.

Emma Stone’s Controversial Casting As A Part-Asian

Cameron Crowe-directed 2015 romance movie Aloha featuring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone has been Hollywood’s most shocking example of whitewashing. The movie unapologetically featured Stone as a part-Asian Air Force pilot, Allison Ng. Further, due to the lack of effort put into the casting, the movie performed disastrously at the box office.

Aloha (2015)

Evidently, Stone’s character was meant to be one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Hawaiian descent. However, absolutely no effort was put into casting a more suitable actress for the role. Thus, soon enough, Emma Stone started facing backlash and accusations of whitewashing following her appearance in the $26.3M movie.

Stone as part-Asian Air Force pilot Allison Ng

However, it didn’t take long enough for Stone to apologize for her role. She even revealed how the casting controversy led her to “learn on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood”. Further, during the 2019 Golden Globes, Stone again uttered “I’m sorry” after the host’s Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh cracked jokes about her casting in Aloha.

Cameron Crowe Had To Apologize For Whitewashing 

It wasn’t just Emma Stone who faced brutal criticism, even the acclaimed filmmaker Cameron Crowe faced intense backlash following his decision. Failing to maintain diversity in the entertainment industry, the Oscar-winning director was brutally slammed by the public, after his controversial whitewashed movie Aloha. 

Stone’s casting in Aloha faced intense backlash

After drawing particular criticism over Emma Stone’s character Allison Ng, Cameron Crowe was forced to apologize for his inconsiderate behavior towards the Asian community. The director wrote,

“Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng.”

Cameron Crowe had to apologize for whitewashing

Further adding to his apology message, Crowe wrote,

“I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heartfelt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice.”

Claiming to have faced struggles while explaining Stone’s character’s unlikely ethnicity, Cameron Crowe took the entire blame on himself for the casting decision.

Source: The Guardian