Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet certainly has a way with words — and he did not mince any when he delivered a blistering takedown of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) standards that now limit him and others who share his profession.
Mamet made the comments during an interview with Los Angeles Times deputy entertainment editor Matt Brennan and the outlet’s Festival of Books — hosted by University of Southern California — where he was promoting his memoir, “Everywhere an Oink, Oink.”
“DEI is garbage. It’s fascist totalitarianism,” Mamet told Brennan. His memoir, which was published last fall, tells his life story in a series of anecdotes — and follows his political metamorphosis as well. Mamet refers to himself as a “red diaper baby,” the child of two communists — and details how he made the journey from the far Left to his current position: supporting former President Donald Trump.
The award-winning playwright and screenwriter — whose works include “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Untouchables,” and “Hannibal” — also took issue with the new “inclusion standards” that have been implemented by the Academy of Motion Pictures, noting that for films to even be considered for awards, they had to check certain boxes according to DEI standards.
“I can’t give you a stupid f***ing statue unless you have 7% of this, 8% of that,” Mamet complained. “It’s intrusive.”
He did not spare the feelings of those charged with implementing the new standards either, referring to them in his memoir as “diversity capos” and “diversity commissars.”
Mamet conceded that Hollywood had long been a place where discrimination had thrived — but argued that the executives dictating the new rules were better suited to “selling popcorn” than to creating a less restrictive environment.
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“The [film industry] has little business improving everybody’s racial understanding as does the fire department,” he said.
Despite his long career in Hollywood, Mamet said that he’s been shuffled off the main stage in recent years — but he did not blame the shift in his political views for that. Instead, he said that his age was the likely culprit — and younger directors preferred to work with people closer to their own age.
“Nobody’s going to pay me a lot of money anymore. Nobody’s going to let me have a lot of fun,” he said.