Lin-Manuel Miranda Apologizes for Colorism In New Movie In The Heights

Lin-Manuel Miranda took it to Twitter to apologize for colorism in his new movie, In the Heights. In his statement, Lin-Manuel acknowledges the criticism and vows to “do better.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda by Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s adaptation 2008 Broadway musical In The Heights has received a wide range of positive reviews. The musical currently stands at 7.9 on IMDB, and an astonishing 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

But there’s something they didn’t quite do well, and the movie received a lot of comments over the colorism in the movie. There is a lack of dark-skinned Afro-Latinx performers or characters in any of the film’s major roles.

Director John M. Chu opened up about it during a chat with the cast on Wednesday. “As a Black woman of Cuban descent, specifically from New York City,” The Root‘s Felice León, who describes herself a Black New Yorker of Cuban descent, asks Chu, “What would you say to folks who say that In the Heights privileges white-passing and light-skinned Latinx people?” Chu says, “I would say that that’s a fair conversation to have,” but doesn’t comment further.

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Now Lin-Manuel Miranda addressed the colorism, and promised “to do better.”

“I started writing In The Heights because I didn’t feel seen. And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us-ALL of us-to feel seen. I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles.”

He continued, “I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling unseen in the feedback. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy.”

Lin-Miranda finished his note with: “Thanks for your honest feedback. I promise to do better in my future projects, and I’m dedicated to the learning and evolving we all have to do to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community. Siempre, LMM.”