At this late stage of the culture wars, caving to an online mob demanding that you resign from your job is just about understandable, if totally unadvisable. But thanking them for their pitchforks and calls for your head is just plain pathetic. Consider the case of Odessa A’zion, a 25-year-old actress who has had a banner year, starring alongside Rachel Sennott in the HBO comedy I Love LA and Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme. She is a Gen Z dream: wild curls, baggy pants, and 2 million Instagram followers. She’s a nepo baby—her mother is the comedian Pamela Adlon. She’s also being played for a fool.
This past Wednesday, A’zion announced that she’d fired herself from a movie—an A24 adaptation of the book Deep Cuts, a music-centered romance—because people online were furious that she was set to play a half-Jewish, half-Mexican character named Zoe Gutierrez, the main character’s best friend. And you might want to sit down for this part, because get this: A’zion is not Mexican. Not even half. Imagine. The horror.
“I’m so pissed y’all, I hadn’t read the book and should have paid more attention to all aspects of Zoe before accepting…. . .and now that I know what I know???” A’zion posted on her Instagram a few days after she’d been cast, “Fuck that! IM OUT.” She pleaded ignorance, and pointed out that she’d auditioned for the main role but was offered, and took, a supporting one. A’zon said she wished she’d “clocked her name,” and then she fed the lion some of her fingers in the hopes of preserving her face: “THANK YOU guys for bringing this to my attention. I AGREE WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! This is why I love you guys.”
