John Leguizamo makes Emmys call for greater representation in Hollywood

John Leguizamo says he’s a “DEI hire,” as he made an appeal at the Emmy Awards for greater diversity and representation in Hollywood. 

“I’m John Leguizamo and I’m one of Hollywood’s DEI hires,” Leguizamo said as he took to the Emmys stage in Los Angeles on Sunday.

“That’s right, DEI: The ‘d’ is for diligence, the ‘e’ is for excellence and the ‘i’ is for imagination,” the “John Wick” actor said. 

“So we are all DEI hires,” Leguizamo told the Emmys audience.

Earlier this year, several GOP lawmakers cited Vice President Harris’s gender and race to argue that she is unqualified, calling her a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hire.

As a teenager, Leguizamo said, he “didn’t know the word ‘representation,'” and “saw a lot of brownface,” citing Al Pacino taking on the role of a Cuban gangster in 1983’s  “Scarface” and Marlon Brando “playing a Mexican” in the 1952 film, “Viva Zapata!” 

“Everybody played us, except us,” said Leguizamo, the star of Broadway’s “Latin History for Morons.” 

“Turns out that not complaining doesn’t change anything. So for the past few years, I’ve been complaining,” Leguizamo said, noting that he paid for a full-page ad to appear in The New York Times earlier this year “asking Emmy voters to recognize candidates of color.”

Leguizamo said he was “almost happy and certainly less angry” about the contenders at the 76th annual Emmy Awards, calling it “about the most diverse list of nominees” in its history. 

“But we need more stories from excluded groups: Black, Asian, Jewish, Arab, LGBTQ+ and disabled,” Leguizamo, 64, said. 

“And this show tonight has proved our industry is making progress.”