Hollywood loves to brag about diversity. Posters get splashy ensemble shots, studios pat themselves on the back, and headlines celebrate “representation.” But moments like the one at the Venice Film Festival remind us that representation without action is empty PR.

Ayo Edebiri was at Venice promoting After the Hunt alongside Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield when a reporter posed a loaded question about #MeToo and Black Lives Matter — but only to Roberts and Garfield. Edebiri was right there. In a conversation about race and justice. And yet, she was excluded.

Instead of shrinking into the background, Ayo handled the moment with intelligence and grace: “I know that that’s not for me… but I just am curious,” she began, before delivering a thoughtful answer that reminded the world activism doesn’t end when hashtags stop trending. She took up space when the moment was designed to erase her — a quiet clapback in real time.

But here’s what was just as loud: Roberts and Garfield’s silence. Neither redirected the reporter’s attention to their Black co-star. Neither challenged why she wasn’t included. They smiled, nodded, and moved along. That’s not allyship. That’s comfort.

And the reporter’s defensive Instagram “clarification” only made it worse, dismissing accusations of racism as attempts to “muzzle journalism.” That response proves the point: people in power rarely see the harm they perpetuate because they’re too busy explaining it away.

Edebiri’s poise was commendable, but she shouldn’t have had to course-correct the moment. True allyship would’ve looked like Roberts or Garfield stepping in, saying, “Ayo should answer this.” It would’ve looked like using their platform to make sure their colleague wasn’t erased in a conversation explicitly tied to race.

Representation isn’t just putting a Black woman in the cast. It’s speaking up when she’s sidelined. It’s understanding that “diverse casting” is meaningless if the people with the most privilege won’t share the mic.

Hollywood’s obsession with optics over action has created an illusion of progress. Until white stars use their privilege to interrupt bias instead of watching it play out in silence, these “diverse” casts are just window dressing. Ayo Edebiri showed us grace under pressure — but she also showed us that the work of allyship in Hollywood hasn’t even begun.