BBC reacts to criticism that Idris Elba’s ‘Luther’ isn’t ‘authentic’ enough
For the love of Luther! A British broadcasting executive caused a bit of a kerfuffle for saying that Idris Elba’s leading character in the British crime series “Luther” wasn’t Black enough.
BBC diversity chief Miranda Wayland came under fire after she claimed the beloved detective chief inspector “doesn’t feel authentic” because of his lack of Black culture.
Wayland shared her thoughts on the series during MIPTV, an entertainment industry conference, where she discussed BBC’s diversity and inclusion strategy, The Times reported.
“When it first came out everybody loved the fact that Idris Elba was in there — a really strong, Black character lead,” she began. “We all fell in love with him. Who didn’t, right? But after you got into about the second series, you got kind of like, ‘OK, he doesn’t have any Black friends, he doesn’t eat any Caribbean food, this doesn’t feel authentic.’”
Wayland said the popular series — currently streaming on HBO Max — was superficially diverse, lacking real culture on screen.
“It’s great having those big landmark shows with those key characters, but it’s about making sure everything around them, their environment, their culture, the set is absolutely reflective,” she explained. “It will be very much about how can we make sure that this program is authentic in terms of the storytelling.”
In response to Wayland’s comments the publicly funded BBC released a statement.
“Luther is a multi-awardwinning crime drama series and the iconic role of DCI John Luther has become one of TV’s most powerful detective characters of which we are tremendously proud,” the statement read.
“The BBC is committed to its continued investment in diversity and recent BBC One dramas “I May Destroy You” and “Small Axe” are testament to that. Of course people can have open discussions about our shows but that doesn’t mean it’s a statement of policy,” the statement concluded.
On Wednesday night, the Golden Globe and NAACP Image Award-winning actor spoke out for the first time following the comments, sharing a quote to Instagram Stories that he attributed to himself.
“We must not pull ourselves backward, only push ourselves forwards. IE,” he wrote.
Although Wayland’s comments may have stung for some, she wasn’t far off-base.