Actor Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua announced Monday their decision not to shoot their upcoming movie "Emancipation," in Georgia due to the new voting law that was passed in late March by Governor Brian Kemp.
"At this moment in time, the Nation is coming to terms with its history and is attempting to eliminate vestiges of institutional racism to achieve true racial justice," said Smith and Fuqua in a joint statement, according to CNBC.
"We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access," the two said. "The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting. Regrettably, we feel compelled to move our film production work from Georgia to another state."
"Emancipation" is a movie about an enslaved man named Whipped Peter who was emancipated during the Civil War and joins the Union Army.
This move by Smith and Fuqua is the first production to pull out of the state as a protest of the new Georgia voting bill making it illegal to provide food and water to voters while they wait in line outside of a polling place, and requires mandatory proof of identification for absentee voting.
