She-Ra Showrunner Shares Commitment to Change After Racist Joke

Last week, She-Ra and The Princesses of Power showrunner Noelle Stevenson came under fire for a racist joke about the series’ character Bow and other commentary made during a controversial crew livestream and while Stevenson issued a swift apology saying that she “made a very careless statement”. Now, Stevenson has returned to social media to share her commitment to change, including commitments to hiring Black talent at every level, boosting Black talent, and financial donations to two organizations.

On Tuesday, Stevenson outlined her commitments in a lengthy Twitter thread as well as again apologized for the comments, acknowledging that what seemed “harmless” to her was in fact painful for Black fans and Black peers as well.

“Hello everyone, last week on a livestream I made a comment that to me, as a white person, seemed harmless, but it evoked a painful racist history and caused hurt to both Black fans of She-Ra and my Black peers in the animation industry,” Stevenson wrote. “I’m sorry to fans of She-Ra who were hurt and betrayed by my comment. I’m sorry to Black professionals who feel unsafe in the industry because of my comment, especially at such a painful time. As someone privileged enough to have a platform and a leadership role, there is simply no excuse for mistakes like this to happen, and I am taking serious action to do what I can repair the harm I caused.”

She continued, “I am currently taking this time to take a hard look at my privilege and remedy the gaps in my anti-racist education and I am working with @mackmactlksback as an anti-racism consultant to craft a plan for the future, both personally and professionally.”

Stevenson then outlined her commitment for the future.

“I commit to hiring Black talent at every level, and to create a safe and positive environment where employees of color’s voices can be heard and where they can thrive,” she wrote. “In addition, I commit to hiring sensitivity readers and anti-racism consultants to ensure that careless bias does not slip through and that the work environment is a safe and positive one for employees of color. I ask for the support of any executives and studios when doing so.”

Stevenson went on to note that when hiring was out of her hands, she commits to boosting the profile of Black talent and connecting them with other opportunities and also committed to making donations to Writing the Other and the Milwaukee Freedom Fund. She closed her thread by asking those who “felt compelled to fight on [her] behalf” to step back and examine their own biases and committed to do the work to never “repeat the mistakes of last week”.

What do you think of Stevenson’s commitment to change? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.