Actress Rita Moreno apologized Wednesday for defending Lin-Manuel Miranda after he received criticism over the lack of representation in his latest movie.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with myself,” the actress wrote on Twitter. “While making a statement in defense of Lin-Manuel Miranda on the Colbert Show last night, I was clearly dismissive of black lives that matter in our Latin community. It is so easy to forget how celebration for some is lament for others.”
In addition to applauding Lin for his wonderful movie version of In The Heights, let me add my appreciation for his sensitivity and resolve to be more inclusive of the Afro-Latino community going forward. See, you CAN teach this old dog new tricks – RITA
— Rita Moreno (@TheRitaMoreno) June 17, 2021
“In addition to applauding Lin for his wonderful movie version of ‘In The Heights,’ let me add my appreciation for his sensitivity and resolve to be more inclusive of the Afro-Latino community going forward,” Moreno added. “See, you CAN teach this old dog new tricks.” (RELATED: Lin-Manuel Miranda Forced To Apologize Because Minority Cast Of ‘In The Heights’ Wasn’t ‘Dark-Skinned’ Enough)
Moreno originally defended Miranda during Tuesday’s episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
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“You can never do right, it seems,” Moreno told Colbert. “This is the man who literally has brought Latino-ness and Puerto Rican-ness to America. I couldn’t do it. I’d love to say I did but I couldn’t. Lin-Manuel has done that really single-handedly.”
She went on to say that she believes the critics are “attacking the wrong person.”
“Well, I’m simply saying, can’t you just wait a while and leave it alone?” she said. “There’s a lot of people who are Puerto Rican who are also from Guatemala who are dark and who are also fair. We are all colors in Puerto Rico. This is how it is. It would be so nice if they hadn’t come up with that and left it alone, just for now. They’re really attacking the wrong person.”
Miranda himself apologized for the lack of dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation in the film in a post shared Monday.
-LMM pic.twitter.com/CHfdLgFUz3
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) June 14, 2021
“I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback,” Miranda said in the post. “I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy.”
“I’m truly sorry,” he added. “I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I’m listening. I’m trying to hold space both for the indelible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings.”
