The Power and Danger of Being a Difficult Woman
Gabrielle Union’s ouster from ‘America’s Got Talent’ shows it’s sometimes necessary to be ‘difficult’
In the appalling case of Gabrielle Union’s removal from America’s Got Talent by NBC, “A source close to the production disputes that Union was fired,” reports Yashar Ali at Vulture, “and specifically that she was fired for being perceived as ‘difficult.’”
There it is, in all the news stories: that insidious little word. “Difficult.”
In case you missed it, here’s what was “difficult” about the wildly popular actress during her stint as a judge on the performance contest show, which led to her three-year contract being cut short after one season: According to multiple press reports, she complained to NBC higher-ups about comedian Jay Leno making a racist crack about Koreans eating dogs; the decision to cut the 10-year old black rapper Dylan Gilmer in favor of a white group from Texas, because they were an act “America can get behind”; and an incident where a contestant imitating Beyonce pulled on black gloves, which Union saw as imitating the singer’s skin tone. There was also apparently friction about Union asking drag performers for their preferred pronouns, and repeated criticism of Union’s choice of hairstyles as being “too black.” Oh, and then…
