Directors Guild, Content Players Decry ‘Malicious Attacks’ Against AAPI Community

As Hollywood continues to observe the alarming rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the U.S., creative unions and content producers are speaking out.

Following celebrity outcry last week, the Directors Guild of America has formally issued a condemnation of attacks — many of which affect elders in the AAPI community.

“The DGA strongly condemns the rising hate crimes, racial harassment, and discrimination against Asian Americans since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is no place in our society for these hateful acts fueled by incendiary rhetoric, scapegoating, and unjust stereotyping targeted at people of Asian descent,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement.

“We and our Asian American Committee stand in solidarity with our Asian American members and the greater community impacted by these malicious attacks. We urge members to report incidents of racism in the workplace to the DGA’s Racial Harassment Hotline.,” the group concluded.

In a report from the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate, 2,800 incidents of this kind of targeted attack has been reported since last Spring. This represented an 867% increase in Asian hate crime victims last year.

In late January,  an 84-year-old man from Thailand was attacked during his morning walk and knocked to the ground, which was captured in a surveillance video. Vicha Ratanapakdee was sent to the hospital, where he died two days later. On the heels of that tragedy, a 91-year-old Asian American man was shoved to the sidewalk in Oakland’s Chinatown. A 64-year-old Vietnamese American woman was assaulted and robbed in San Jose, Calif., and just last week, a 61-year-old Filipino American man received almost 100 stitches after being slashed in the face on the New York City subway.

“Our stories wouldn’t exist without diverse voices and perspectives. We stand with the AAPI community in condemning the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, as well as all racists acts,” wrote the official Twitter account of HBO Max on Monday.

“For everyone who sees themselves or someone they love in Lara Jean, Sasha and Marcus, Ioane, Ellie Chu, Claudia Kishi, or Pin-Jui.  We stand united against racism, hatred, and violence,” Netflix said, referencing some of their most popular content.

See more corporations sharing resources to help combat these attacks below.

Learn more on @AAAJ_AAJC at https://t.co/eIQD2oe4i8. #StopAAPIHate pic.twitter.com/gxicrMPk3M

— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) February 20, 2021

#StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate

For resources and to learn how you can support, visit @StopAAPIHate: https://t.co/ZmiMfpjDye pic.twitter.com/8ewWNZL3B0

— ViacomCBS (@ViacomCBS) February 17, 2021

Advocacy:@CAAsanfrancisco@StopAAPIHate pic.twitter.com/3D3abyMRDv

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) February 12, 2021

Our hearts are with our Asian community. We stand united with our partners to create a more inclusive future.

Learn more: https://t.co/HDGa5BCi2M #StopAsianHate pic.twitter.com/He9UDp0pCY

— Nike (@Nike) February 19, 2021

We stand with the #AAPI community #StopAAPIHate #StopAsianHate
For resources and to learn how you can support, visit @StopAAPIHate pic.twitter.com/wcX4XId0W6

— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) February 19, 2021