Rush Limbaugh Says Idris Can't Be 007 Because He's Black
While the idea of Idris Elba as James Bond has many people, including Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal, very excited, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has an issue with it. Why? Because Elba is Black. The talk show host pontificated on the topic after leaked Sony emails revealed that Pascal had been lobbying for Elba to take over the 007 role.
"James Bond was invented, created by Ian Fleming, a former spy, MI6, and James Bond is a total concept put together by Ian Fleming. He was white and Scottish, period. That is who James Bond is," the host said. "But now Sony is suggesting that the next James Bond should be Idris Elba, a Black Briton rather than a white from Scotland. But that's not who James Bond is and I know it's racist to probably even point this out."
In fact, Bond has been played by British, American and Australian actors, not only Scottish.
Yet he continued, "We had 50 years of white Bonds because Bond is white. Bond was never Black. Ian Fleming never created a Black Brit to play James Bond. The character was always white. He was always Scottish. He always drank vodka shaken not stirred and all that."
Limbaugh and his conservative cohorts never seem to mind when Hollywood whitewashes films but have been vocally opposed to the idea of a Black James Bond. Thankfully, they seem to be in the minority.
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(Photos from left: Ian Gavan/Getty Images, Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)