The Talk co-host Sheryl Underwood is speaking out in support of Nate Parker.
In a recent clip from the show, Underwood gave the the audience and fellow hosts a run down of why she’s Team Nate. “[Parker’s] life has been changed. But he has evolved,” she said. “He’s given his life to Christ. He’s become a better person. If you want to hold him to that, then you need to hold everybody else that’s done something to the exact same standard.” The former comedian goes on to state that white actors aren’t held to the same scrutiny, listing Roman Polanski as an example, and shares her story as a rape survivor.
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“Why is it that Roman Polanski can do whatever he wants to do and that was a 13-year-old child? I guess my feeling about this is, from a person who has been raped, one thing we need to take a moment to understand is the long-lasting devastating effect of rape to everyone involved.”
Underwood also questions the timing of the media’s scrutiny, pointing out that during the press of 2014’s Beyond the Lights no one said a word about the case. “When you’re talking about a movie that seems to artistically portray the violation of people who were considered property then you’re talking about a political devastation. [It is] not just a sexual devastation that was supposed to motivate Nat Turner into doing what he did.”
