A California law that restricts a popular Hollywood website from posting actors' ages raises First Amendment concerns and does not appear likely to combat age discrimination in the entertainment industry in any meaningful way, a federal judge said Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria granted IMDb.com's request to block AB 1687 while the website's lawsuit challenging it winds through the courts. Chhabria said the law prevented IMDb from publishing factual information on its public website, and the state had not shown it was necessary to combat age discrimination in Hollywood.
"It's not clear how preventing one mere website from publishing age information could meaningfully combat discrimination at all," the judge said.
The law -- authored by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier -- took effect in January and allows actors and other industry professionals to force IMDb to take down their ages. IMDb said in court documents it shared the goal of preventing age discrimination, but the law wouldn't achieve that goal and would instead "chill free speech and undermine public access to factual information." The state attorney general's office has said the Legislature had determined that existing anti-discrimination laws were not enough to eliminate age discrimination in Hollywood. It cited comments by Calderon that actors were concerned that they would be shut out from parts based on age bias. The state attorney general's office did not immediately have comment on the ruling.
Calderon has said the bill was aimed at protecting lesser-known actors and actresses whose ages are not as readily available as bigger Hollywood stars. The law was supported by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which said in a statement the ruling simply represented an early skirmish in the legal fight. "SAG-AFTRA will continue to fight until we achieve for actors and other entertainment industry professionals the same rights to freedom from age discrimination in hiring enjoyed by other workers in other industries," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's chief operating officer and general counsel. Chhabria said there are likely "more direct, more effective, and less speech-restrictive ways" of fighting discrimination in Hollywood.
If actors want to claim they are younger than they are, who really cares? The truth ends up coming out eventually. Laverne Cox has a twin who is like 42 and she's 36 or something like that. Honestly I think it's kind of cute & harmless.
ReplyDeletemy biggest gripe with age in Hollywood is how they always get 20somethings to play high school kids. I always felt inadaquate after watching teen films like Breakfast Club and others. No one looked like those kids in my school, but everyone emulated them. That scene in Welcome to the Dollhouse where weinerdog is talking to her brother's band mate. And the difference between the two of them says it all. She goes to the same school as him and he even asks her if she's in high school. I was definitely a weinerdog in my time.
ReplyDelete“SAG-AFTRA will continue to fight until we achieve for actors and other entertainment industry professionals the same rights to freedom from age discrimination in hiring enjoyed by other workers in other industries,”
ReplyDeleteThat is to say, none at all? Because age discrimination is rampant in every industry.
When they give a list of credits and work experience, they're exposing something about their age..in the real world, you list degrees, etc (foreign concept in Hollywood) but what does it matter?...they are hired if they have the right look no matter the age..and 20 somethings play everything from school kids to all-knowing ceo's, old actors are paired with barely legal love interests, fat dumpy guys always have model hot wives, and women over 40 are cast as menopause crazed grandma's. Enough angst already.
ReplyDeleteWell Margot Robbie is actually 33 so clearly not everyone's real age is being listed
ReplyDelete"young girl; 20 ys.later: young girl; 40 ys.later:young girl; 20 ys.later: grandma died due to natural causes..."
ReplyDeleteThey actually found out that she's not, they found pictures of her from a high school yearbook in 2007.
ReplyDeleteThanks for finally writing about >Judge Blocks
ReplyDeleteIMDb Law About Ages - CRAZY DAYS AND NIGHTS
<Liked it!
Thank you, SAG-AFTRA. ♥
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