Jeremy Zimmer, a partner, board member, and co-owner of United Talent Agency, is an avid art collecter and apparently thought it would be a great idea to install this picture in a public space in UTA’s offices. I bet you can can figure out what happened next...A group of UTA employees comprised primarily of (surprise) African Americans complained to the human resources department that the image was “derogatory” to blacks. ”Collectively the employees of color now feel uncomfortable and unwelcome...This is not the first time racial discrimination has been exhibited at United Talent Agency, but it is the first time that it has been put on public view.”
Of course, Zimmer explained that it was okay because it was art, and the artist is famous.
[The artist is] Pieter Hugo, the award-winning South African whose "haunting and often provocative portraits try to portray the reality of the African continent’s human condition", and this Dayaba Usman With The Monkey Clear, Nigeria 2005 was part of a very powerful series of portraits about men and their relationships with the animals they have tamed.
Not gonna lie, but that actually sounds kind of awesome. Longstory short, Zimmer moved the photo to his office and everything was cool. Gee, maybe the folks in Hollywood are just regular assholes people too?
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