Halle Berry Pulls Out of Transgender Role Following Criticism

Halle Berry was preparing for a role as a transgender character, but she decided to pull out following some backlash.

“[It’s] a character where the woman is a trans character, so she’s a woman that transitioned into a man. She’s a character in a project I love that I might be doing,” Berry said on Instagram live on Friday. The 53-year-old also added that she wanted to take a “deep dive” into “that world,” presumably referring to the LGBTQA+ community.

But after misgendering the character several times during the live session, many users began dragging her. “Who this woman was is so interesting to me, and that will probably be my next project,” she said.

The actress delivered an apology two days later and said “the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories.”

“Over the weekend I had the opportunity to discuss my consideration of an upcoming role as a transgender man, and I’d like to apologize for those remarks. As a cisgender woman, I now understand that I should not have considered this role, and that the transgender community should undeniably have the opportunity to tell their own stories,” she wrote. “I am grateful for the guidance and critical conversation over the past few days and will continue to listen, educate and learn from this mistake. I vow to be an ally in using my voice to promote better representation on-screen, both in front of and behind the camera.”

What are your thoughts? Was Halle Berry right to step down and give an actual transgender man the opportunity to portray this role?