Will Smith’s upcoming movie project, Emancipation, is the first major production to pull out of Georgia because of the state’s new voter restriction laws, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He and director Antoine Fuqua made the announcement today regarding the Apple Studios project.
“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,” Smith and Fuqua said in a joint statement. “We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access. The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting.”
The new laws, passed by Republican lawmakers and signed by Georgia’s Republican governor, prohibit food and water from being delivered to voters waiting in line and call for strict new ID requirements in order to vote.
They primarily target Black communities and have been heavily criticized nationwide, including by civil rights activists and politicians. The MLB also relocated its All-Star Game from Georgia, according to Forbes.
The movie was slated to begin production last June, as Hollywood has been attracted to Georgia in recent years because of the state’s tax incentives.
