Nigerian actor accuses film producers of racial discrimination in payment

Nigerian actor Samuel Abiola Robinson, who starred in the recent Malayalam film Sudani has accused the producers of the film of paying him a much lesser amount than the Indian actors, attributing it to racial discrimination.

Terming it as racial discrimination, the actor said in a Facebook post. He wrote;


Hello everyone, i would like to shed light on a particular subject.

Actually the truth is that i did experience Racial discrimination from producers in Kerala… I didn’t want to say anything before because i was trying to be patient but now I am ready to speak up.

I’m saying this now because i cannot sit back and allow it happen to another helpless young black actor.
I believe that i was a victim of racial discrimination while in Kerala. It was nothing violent or directly in my face but for my role in Sudani from Nigeria, the producers offered me far less money than Indian actors who are not half as popular or accomplished as i am would normally earn. I only became better enlightened after meeting with several young actors and discussing payment with them. I am of the opinion that this happened purely because of my skin color and the assumption that all africans are poor and don’t know the value of money. The director and writer Zakariya did his best to help but as he was not financing the movie himself, there was very little change he could foster. Zakariya is a good guy with a good heart and a brilliant director. Promises were made to me by the producers while shooting to pay me more if the movie eventually becomes successful but no promise has been honoured and now i am back in Nigeria. I believe the promises were simply tools of Manipulation to get me to eagerly commit the 5 months of availability for work being October, November, December 2017, January and March 2018 for the shoot and promotion of the movie. The movie is a huge commercial success now and i am grateful for all the love that the fans have shown me and i have been privileged to experience the warm culture of Kerala but i can no longer suffer in silence about this. As i am black, it is my responsibility to speak up because it could ease the suffering of the next generation of black actors. Say no to racial or caste discrimination.
Samuel Abiola Robinson.


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