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‘The Outsider’ star Cynthia Erivo responds to Stephen King’s Twitter comments about diversity

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ABC/Eric McCandlesAfter novelist Stephen King shared his controversial thoughts on diversity earlier this week, saying he “would never consider diversity in matters of art,” Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo is now sharing her thoughts on diversity’s importance.

During a HBO panel for The Outsider, a series adaptation of King’s 2018 novel, Ervio, who stars in the series, said that diversity is an “beautiful” part of today’s art.

“I feel like this year we had a flurry of beautiful pieces by people who are of a diverse nature — black women, women in general,” said Erivo, according to Variety. “I think you’re seeing more of it on TV, HBO in particular [where] you have Regina King on Watchmen, who’s incredible. And I think that opens the doors and opens our eyes to the people who are making the work.”

“I am one, so if there’s room to play, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Erivo continued. “And if I can create room for others, that’s also what I’m going to do.”

After the immediate backlash, King attempted to clarify his comments hours after his initial tweet.

“The most important thing we can do as artists and creative people is make sure everyone has the same fair shot, regardless of sex, color, or orientation,” he wrote. “Right now such people are badly under-represented, and not only in the arts.”

In her chat, Ervio also expressed the importance of inclusion and having people in power create new opportunities for those who are underrepresented.

“Change the way they think, change the way they cast things, change the way they (hire) their producers, their directors and writers and make sure it reflects the world that we live in,” Erivo said.

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