Jamie Foxx Defends Robert Downey Jr. Doing Blackface in Tropic Thunder, Says Fans Pick On Actors Because It's Easy

It's 2022, almost 2023 and fans are now super quick to point out if their actors do controversial roles

In current times, actors are no longer safe from the quick discussions by their beloved fans if they're seen doing something controversial. One such recent example is of Robert Downey Jr.

Robert, being Hollywood's most beloved actor, has fallen under the radar once again for going blackface in his movie Tropic Thunder which got released in 2008. 

Ben Stiller had cast the actor for Tropic Thunder, a Hollywood satire, 14-years back in 2008. Though it's been more than a decade, the topic is still not under the carpet and often a hot topic for debate. 

Jamie thinks actors would do things differently if they start reading the hate comments

While Downey himself stated that he did have a bad premonition about the whole thing, actor Jamie Foxx thinks otherwise and do not shy away from showing his support for the actor. 

Actor Jamie Foxx

In 2017, Jamie Foxx appeared in Joe Rogan Experience podcast where he said how if an actor reads all the comments under a project, he might change the way he does things, and not in a positive way.

He believed an actor should never give attention to the hate comments and that if he himself did that, he wouldn’t be able to tell another joke.

Jamie talked about his character in a shelved movie All-Star Weekend, where he played a white racist cop. The same movie's cast included Robert Downey Jr. as a Mexican and Gerard Butler as a Russian.

“If you read the comments that’ll make you tuck that in. But this is some brilliant – it’s really a cool little thing too. It’s called All-Star Weekend for a reason. It’s about two guys. One guy loves Steph Curry, the other guy loves LeBron James, and all they’re trying to do is get to the All-Star game and it’s like this whole journey of running all these people so it’s dope. But it is some things where it’s like ‘Oooh.’ You could see there’s gonna be some sh”t going on.”

Jamie is against the fans targeting the entertainment industry

The discussion reminded Joe Rogan of Robert's role in Tropic Thunder, saying creators can’t do that anymore. Foxx supported the actor and said the audience need to understand where it's coming from. Jamie thinks there are real people in the real world who mean real harm and that the people should talk about them instead of targetting the entertainment industry. 

Jamie Foxx’s unreleased movie – All-Star Weekend

Foxx said people weren’t ready for a real fight, whether it is politics or something else, and that it was easy to pick on actors. Foxx told how he wanted Robert to play mexican in the film to which Robert even agreed but later declined the offer as he was nervous to play that role. Foxx firmly believes that actors should be able to play different characters. 

In the movie, Robert was an Australian method actor who decided to go through a pigment alteration surgery to play a darker character in a war movie. This role sparks controversery even now after more than a decade. In one of the podcasts, Downey explained he was quite worried about his role and that he and his mom already had a bad feeling about this. 

Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder

Robert admits it was a 'terrbile idea' but still he went ahead with it because his heart said so. Robert told how Ben Stiller was very confident with what he was doing and that 90 percent of his black friends loved his portrayal. 

“Ben knew exactly what the vision for this was, he executed it, it was impossible to not have it be an offensive nightmare of a movie. 90 percent of my black fans were like ‘Dude, that was great.’ I can’t disagree with the rest but I know where my heart lies.”

Even though, Robert was criticised for the role he played, he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

If Tropic Thunder was to be released today, would it have managed to escape the cancel culture? We would love to know your views.