White ‘Lion King’ sign-language interpreter says he was ousted over skin color

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Senior News Editor since 2004






White ‘Lion King’ sign-language interpreter says he was ousted over skin color​



By
Jacob Geanous


November 12, 2022 7:27pm
Updated





Keith Wann.
Keith Wann filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday against the Theatre Development Fund and the director of its accessibility programs. Just Callaway Photography







It’s not the Great White Way.
A white sign-language interpreter says he was booted from “The Lion King” on Broadway because of his skin color.
Keith Wann, 53, was one of at least two people forced off the production by the non-profit Theatre Development Fund – which staffs Broadway shows with American Sign Language interpreters – after the group decided it was “no longer appropriate to have white interpreters represent black characters for ASL Broadway shows.”
Wann filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday against the organization and the director of its accessibility programs, Lisa Carling.

Carling told him and interpreter Christina Mosleh to “back out” of the show — which celebrates its 25th anniversary on Sunday — so they could be replaced by black sign-language experts, according to the suit and emails obtained by The Post.

“To me, just seeing that discrimination, it doesn’t matter if I’m white or black,” said Wann. “This is blatant and I would just hope that other people who have also experienced this would step forward.”
Wann, a sign language interpreter and performer who has been working in New York for more than a decade, was offered the chance in March to work on one of Broadway’s most-acclaimed and longest-running shows.
But days later, he was shocked when he received an email from Carling sheepishly asking him and another interpreter to leave the show, citing “the current social climate.”
“With great embarrassment and apologies, I’m asking you both to please back out of interpreting the show for us on Sunday, April 24,” Carling wrote. “I don’t see any other way out of this. It seems like the best solution.”
Keith Wann.Keith Wann has been working in NYC for more than a decade and has interpreted for a diverse array of performers, including black actors, without issue.
Carling’s decision came at the behest of Shelly Guy, the director of ASL for “The Lion King,” and called for Carling to get rid of all non-black interpreters, according to another email obtained by The Post and cited in the suit.
ASL interpreters.Shelly Guy, the director of ASL for “The Lion King,” called to get rid of all non-black interpreters.Vimeo/TDF
“The majority of the characters in the Lion King are black actors and the content takes place in Africa,” Guy wrote Carling on April 1.
“Keith Wann, though an amazing ASL performer, is not a black person and therefore should not be representing Lion King,” she declared.
The following day, Wann was out of a job and the $1,000 it would have paid to interpret the performance.
Lion King theater.Keith Wann and fellow interpreter Christina Mosleh were told to “back out” of the show so they could be replaced by black sign-language experts.Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Cast of the Lion King.Theatre Development Fund’s director of accessibility programs, Lisa Carling, said the decision was due to “the current social climate.”Getty Images
He said he never answered Carling’s emails, or the phone calls that followed, as he ruminated on what he should do next before ultimately deciding to take his case up in Manhattan Federal Court.
“I lost sleep over it,” Wann said, adding that he has interpreted for a diverse array of performers including black actors – and even Donkey from “Shrek” – without issue.



“Wrong is wrong,” he added.


Mosleh did not respond to messages seeking comment. The Theatre Development Fund declined to comment. Carling, Guy and Disney Theatrical Productions, which produced the show, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
 

Broadway’s ‘Lion King’ interpreter fired for being white settles case after backlash​



By
Jacob Geanous


November 26, 2022 1:18pm
Updated





A picture of the Minskoff Theatre.
The white sign-language interpreter was fired from Broadway's "Lion King" for his skin color quietly settled his federal discrimination case against the theatre company.





The white sign-language interpreter booted from Broadway’s “Lion King” for his skin color quietly settled his federal discrimination case against the theatre company that fired him, The Post has learned.
Keith Wann and the Theatre Development Fund — a nonprofit that provides ASL interpreters at Broadway shows — resolved the dispute outside of court just two weeks after Wann filed his lawsuit and The Post published a front-page report.
“The matter between myself and TDF has been resolved and both parties are satisfied with the discussions that ensued,” Wann wrote in a social media post announcing the settlement. “I look forward to the review of the process that will come from this to hopefully benefit the interpreting profession.”
A picture of Keith Wann.Keith Wann and the Theatre Development Fund resolved the dispute outside of court just two weeks after Wann filed his lawsuit. Courtesy of Keith Wan
Wann filed the lawsuit on Nov. 8 after he and another interpreter, Christina Mosleh, were told to back out of the production in April so they could be replaced by black sign-language experts, according to the suit and emails obtained by The Post.
“Keith Wann, though an amazing ASL performer, is not a black person and therefore should not be representing Lion King,” Shelly Guy, the director of ASL for “The Lion King,” told Lisa Carling, the director of the Theatre Development Fund’s accessibility programs, in an email.
Wann’s decision to take the case up in court was met with online backlash from the deaf community.
A picture of people performing The Lion King on Broadway.“Stop taking all the jobs when we have black interpreters that are the better fit…,” said deaf performer Raven Sutton. Broadway World/Shutterstock
“You disgusted me,” Randy Spann, host of the deaf talk show The Real Talk with Randy, said in video response to Wann’s lawsuit. “Enough is enough. Let black people get their opportunities to get a spotlight.”
In a viral TikTok video, deaf performer Raven Sutton blasted Wann for his decision to sue the theatre group.
“This is not discrimination,” Sutton signed on the video that amassed over 57,000 views. “Reverse racism is not a thing. Stop taking all the jobs when we have black interpreters that are the better fit. Wipe your own white tears because we are not going to do it for you.”
A picture of an accessibility and translation sign.“There are some people justifying why they don’t support him through the lens of racial identity politics,” said Jared Allebest, a deaf civil rights attorney. Stephen Yang for NY Post
Many Post readers and others in the deaf community came out in force to support Wann and condemn the outrage he faced.
“I’m baffled by the hate,” Jared Allebest, a deaf civil rights attorney, told The Post. “There are some people justifying why they don’t support him through the lens of racial identity politics”
In Wann’s statement this week, the interpreter addressed the criticism he faced online and the debates his lawsuit spawned.
“Over the last week I have seen a lot of pain in our community and have also seen some much-needed conversations,” Wann wrote. “It is unfortunate that assumptions were made, and conclusions were drawn without all the facts.”
 
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