Actor Zoë Saldaña is calling out what she describes as an act of government "entitlement" after she claimed U.S. officials left the accents from her surname on her birth certificate.
Saldaña, born in Passaic, New Jersey, has Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage. Her surname includes a tilde, changing the "n" to a "ny" sound. However, for years, she didn't correct those who misspelled or mispronounced it.
"I think that back in the day it was an entitlement of 'Well, this is America, this is English, that doesn't exist, so we're not gonna put it in,'" she said during an appearance on the "Table Manners" podcast. "Versus now – there's this mindfulness of 'how do you want to be called? What is your name?' And that I truly appreciate.
"That gave me permission to make that choice, come into that awareness of, 'Wait a minute, this is not my full name. My full name is Zoë Saldaña, and it's no longer my job to help you pronounce my name. But it's also my job not to take it personally if you can't."
Saldaña, star of Emilia Pérez, has faced recent controversy after co-star Karla Sofía Gascón's past tweets surfaced about George Floyd, Islam, and diversity at the Oscars.
Saldaña noted on the podcast that modern technology enables people to share their most controversial opinions from home.
"We're living in such an era where social media gives you the permission to be so different from yourself," she said. "So most of the time, people sort of weaponize the fact that they can hide behind these devices to just spew so much hatred and intolerance and inflexibility."
Saldaña previously spoke about the Gascón controversy after it emerged in January, but many on social media felt her response was overly media trained.
"I'm still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I'm sad. It makes me really sad because I don't support [it], and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group," she said, according to the Independent.
"I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural and gender equity. And it just saddens me."
Speaking later with Variety, she said: "You may believe that it's just a statement I came up with alongside my team, but at the end of the day, when I can't speak on behalf of anyone else, I can only speak on behalf of myself and what I witnessed. And that needs to be enough for now.
"I'm still processing. I certainly think that this is a learning experience. Everything in life is a learning experience for all of us. And the point of uncomfortable events is for the sake of evolution. So I hope that we continue moving in the right direction."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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