Hollywood besties Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have announced plans to adopt inclusion riders for all future projects at their production company Pearl Street Films.
The news comes from the company's head of strategic outreach Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, who responded on Twitter to Michael B. Jordan's recent announcement that he would be adopting the inclusion rider.
"Thank you for always supporting broader representation in the industry," DiGiovanni replied. "On behalf of Pearl Street Films, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Todd, Drew Vinton and I will be adopting the #InclusionRider for all of our projects moving forward."
The declaration follows a year that saw Damon and Affleck both challenged by supporters of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements.
Damon put his foot his mouth multiple times in an attempt to voice his opinions on the scandal involving his frequent film collaborator Harvey Weinstein, while Affleck followed in his brother Casey's steps and was accused of sexual misconduct himself.
The concept of the inclusion rider — a contract stipulation mandating that 50 percent of the cast and crew on a specific project be made up of women and people of colour — gained steam after Frances McDormand delivered a fiery Best Actress acceptance speech at the Academy Awards earlier this month.
"I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen," she concluded. "Inclusion rider."
Revisit McDormand's Oscar speech below.
The news comes from the company's head of strategic outreach Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni, who responded on Twitter to Michael B. Jordan's recent announcement that he would be adopting the inclusion rider.
"Thank you for always supporting broader representation in the industry," DiGiovanni replied. "On behalf of Pearl Street Films, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Todd, Drew Vinton and I will be adopting the #InclusionRider for all of our projects moving forward."
.@michaelb4jordan Thank you for always supporting broader representation in the industry. On behalf of Pearl Street Films, Matt Damon, @BenAffleck, Jennifer Todd, Drew Vinton & I will be adopting the #InclusionRider for all of our projects moving forward. https://t.co/ODit24D2Rb
— Fanshen (@fanshen) March 13, 2018
The declaration follows a year that saw Damon and Affleck both challenged by supporters of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements.
Damon put his foot his mouth multiple times in an attempt to voice his opinions on the scandal involving his frequent film collaborator Harvey Weinstein, while Affleck followed in his brother Casey's steps and was accused of sexual misconduct himself.
The concept of the inclusion rider — a contract stipulation mandating that 50 percent of the cast and crew on a specific project be made up of women and people of colour — gained steam after Frances McDormand delivered a fiery Best Actress acceptance speech at the Academy Awards earlier this month.
"I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen," she concluded. "Inclusion rider."
Revisit McDormand's Oscar speech below.
