Shia LaBeouf Accused Of Brownface In New Film, Director David Ayers Responds

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David Ayers clarifies that Shia Labeouf isn't pulling off brownface in "The Tax Collector."

Shia Labeouf found himself facing a bit of a backlash over the weekend after the trailer for David Ayers' The Tax Collector launched. Shia takes on the role of Creeper who's a crime boss collecting taxes from other criminal organizations in the Los Angeles area. Many quickly noticed that Shia, who is the only white character in the film, is possibly taking on a form of "brownface" by being a white guy playing a Latino. 

"@DavidAyerMovies Hey, really important question that I think you should answer publicly in 2020. Is Shia Lebouf playing a Latino character in Tax Collector? If so, why didn't you cast a Latin actor?" A user on Twitter asked.

"Really important answer - Shia is playing a whiteboy who grew up in the hood. This is a Jewish dude playing a white character. Also the only white dude in the movie," Ayer said in response. He elaborated further as a "whiteboy" who "grew up hood."

"Chicano culture is inclusive - I’ve seen whiteys, Asians, Blacks, Filipinos all putting in work for the hood. It’s part of street culture," he continued before adding that he's representing "LA Hood shit" with his latest film. He later clarified that it's not necessarily Chicano culture rather than LA street culture.

In a later tweet, he made it abundantly clear that Shia is not doing Brownface in this film. Check out his response below. 

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Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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