letter

How does Mick Cronin survive this, sending his own player off the court after hustling hard on defense to get a piece of the ball but unfortunately too much contact and drew a foul. Does he not constantly rip his team for weak defense?

Steven Jamerson, you deserved better from your coach and I won’t be surprised if your teammates and UCLA’s decision-makers agree going forward. Except …. he just recently got an extension. Way to go, Martin Jarmond.

Ron Mortvedt
San Bernardino

How can UCLA’s combustible coach possibly demand discipline, hold his players responsible, or blame them for failing to take accountability when, night after night, he’s the most unhinged person in the building? Hey Mick, as my grandma used to say, “When you point a finger at someone, three point back at you.”

Steve Ross
Carmel

Bill Plaschke nailed it in his column today. Mick Cronin just seems to be angry all the time prowling the sidelines. What does that look like to a kid still playing in high school? How AD Martin Jarmond gave him an extended contract with a $22.5-million buyout is beyond me. It’s going to cost UCLA to move on from him. It would be a lot easier if he only starts throwing chairs.

Paul Atkinson
Ventura

The sky has fallen! For the first time I can remember I agree with something Bill Plaschke has written!

Julian Pollok

Palm Desert

As a lifelong fan and proud alumnus, I believe it’s time for UCLA to seriously evaluate the direction of its men’s basketball program. Why would we want a head coach who appears angry every time he’s in the spotlight? Leadership sets the tone, and right now that tone feels tense and joyless. Players want to compete for someone who inspires them and makes them better — not someone whose public demeanor seems rooted in frustration.

Watching from the outside, it often looks like the team is playing tight rather than confident, and that reflects leadership. Mick Cronin has had success and deserves credit for that, but UCLA basketball is bigger than any one résumé; if the standard is sustained excellence and a culture players are proud to represent, then it’s fair to question whether this is the right long-term fit for the program.

Michael Gesas
Beverly Hills

After the fake video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting went viral, a surge of AI-generated content from Seedance 2.0 flooded the internet.

Some fans were using the new AI video generator, backed by ByteDance, to refashion the finales for shows like “Game of Thrones” and “Stranger Things.” Others created battle scenes between iconic superheroes like Wolverine and Superman or between a Transformer and Godzilla.

As these Seedance videos amassed millions of views on social media, industry guilds like SAG-AFTRA and the Motion Picture Assn. have criticized the AI platform that was launched last week. Now, many major Hollywood studios are threatening to take legal action against ByteDance, the same Chinese parent that oversees TikTok.

Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Disney have all sent individual cease and desist letters, detailing the unauthorized reproduction of each of the studios’ copyrighted intellectual property.

Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery were the latest studios to send cease and desists letter to ByteDance on Tuesday.

Netflix calls Seedance “a high-speed privacy engine” and says that they “will not stand by and watch ByteDance treat our valued IP as free, public domain clip art,” as stated in the letter. The streamer also cites the illegal use of sets derived from “Squid Game,” costumes from “Bridgerton” and character design from “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Warner Bros. Discovery looks to repurposed content, including characters from the “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings” franchises, as well as superheroes like Batman, as “ blatant infringement” by ByteDance. The studio argues that it’s clear that their AI technology was trained on Warner Bros. copyrighted material “without authorization.”

“But the users are not the ones at the root cause of the infringement; they are merely building on the foundation of infringement already laid by ByteDance as Seedance comes pre-loaded with Warner Bros. Discovery’s copyrighted characters,” wrote the studios’ legal executive vice president Wayne Smith. “That was a deliberate design choice by ByteDance.”

Disney and Paramount were the first of the studios to call out ByteDance, sending their letters last Friday and Saturday. Disney accuses ByteDance of loading its Seedance service “with a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises.”

“Over Disney’s well-publicized objections, ByteDance is hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters. ByteDance’s virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable,” Disney’s attorney David Singer wrote, per Axios.

Paramount’s cease and desist letter was reviewed by The Times and makes similar assertions about ByteDance’s unapproved use of copyrighted material.

ByteDance has since pledged to implement more safeguards to protect copyrighted material in response to these letters.

“ByteDance respects intellectual property rights and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNBC. “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”

But with or without the safeguards, Dan Purcell, chief executive of Midnight Labs, an AI-powered company that specializes in IP protection for high-value entertainment, said these letters might be a bit of a delayed reaction from the studios.

“Once synthetic content is generated, it spreads instantly and at a massive scale. By the time lawyers engage, the damage is done,” said Purcell in a statement. “The only path forward is strict licensing, real-time enforcement, and consequences that actually hurt. Reactive letters won’t fix this. The industry needs to move at the speed of AI — not the speed of litigation.”

WASHINGTON — At Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities across the country, detainees go without medicine for serious health conditions, endure miscarriages while shackled and are dying in record numbers, a group of U.S. senators said.

In a letter sent Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE senior official Todd Lyons, 22 Democratic lawmakers alleged that a “dramatic” surge in deaths in federal immigration custody is a “clear byproduct” of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and rapid expansion of detention.

“Each death in ICE custody is a tragedy and, based on the evidence available from agency records, 911 calls, and medical experts, many could have been prevented if not for this Administration’s decisions,” the senators wrote. The letter, released Tuesday, was led by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and signed by California Sen. Alex Padilla.

At least 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025, they asserted. That’s triple the previous year’s total and more deaths than were recorded during the entire Biden administration. ICE has reported seven deaths so far this year, as well as seven in December alone.

In the letter, the senators demanded detailed information about the agency’s death investigations, medical standards and oversight procedures.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to the allegations but has repeatedly defended its detention standards. In a statement, ICE said it is “committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments,” adding that detainees receive medical, dental and mental health screenings within 12 hours of arrival, full health assessments within 14 days and access to 24-hour emergency care.

The lawmakers’ warning comes amid mounting allegations that detention facility staff have withheld critical medication, delayed emergency responses and failed to provide adequate mental health care.

The agency came under flak recently after a Texas medical examiner ruled the January death of a Cuban immigrant a homicide after witnesses said they saw guards choking him to death.

In Calexico, Calif., Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz, 68, died after more than a month in detention, records show; the Honduran national’s family alleged that he repeatedly reported worsening stomach and chest pain but received only pain medication.

The recent rise in deaths coincides with a dramatic expansion of the detention system. Funding for ICE roughly tripled after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The agency has used the funds to increase detention capacity, holding more than 67,000 people nationwide after reaching a historic high of approximately 73,000, many of whom have no criminal history, the letter says.

Last week, the Trump administration announced $38.3 billion in partnerships with private prison corporations, including GEO Group and CoreCivic, to further scale up detention space. One planned facility near Phoenix will cost $70 million and span the equivalent of seven football fields, according to the lawmakers. ICE has also reopened facilities that were previously shuttered over chronic staffing shortages and medical concerns.

Concerns about conditions have extended to California. Last month, Padilla and Sen. Adam Schiff toured a for-profit detention center in California City after reports of unsafe facilities, inadequate medical care and limited access to attorneys.

“It’s the tragic result of a system failing to meet the most basic duty of care,” Padilla said in a statement, citing reports of mold in food, unclean drinking water and barriers to medical care.

A federal judge recently ordered the administration to provide adequate healthcare and improved access to counsel at the facility, concluding that detainees were likely to “suffer irreparable harm” without court intervention.

In their letter, the senators argued that the rapid growth of the detention system has outpaced oversight and accountability. They cited internal audits documenting violations of detention standards, allegations that ICE failed to pay third-party medical providers for months and analyses of 911 calls from large facilities showing repeated cardiac events, seizures and suicide attempts.

“Rather than accepting responsibility for deaths in government custody and providing detailed facts about the circumstances of each death,” the senators wrote, “the Department of Homeland Security has attempted to smear deceased individuals’ reputations by emphasizing details about their immigration status and their alleged wrongdoing.”

As detention capacity continues to expand, the climbing death tallies underscore the extent to which the Trump administration has overhauled the immigration detention system, and Democrats say the results are fraught.

The opposition party has grown more unified after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota, which coincided with reports of record high detention deaths in December.

Discord culminated in a partial government shutdown that began Friday when Senate Democrats refused to fund the Department of Homeland Security until the Trump administration agrees to reform at the agency.

Pat Haden, Vince Evans, Sean Salisbury, Rodney Peete, Matt Cassel, Todd Marinovich, Rob Johnson, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez, Caleb Williams. Just a few of the great USC quarterbacks who went on to have NFL careers, yet never won a Super Bowl. Congratulations to Sam Darnold, the first USC quarterback to win the Super Bowl. I will always remember Sam’s amazing performance in the 2017 Rose Bowl game against Penn State. Sam was a redshirt freshman that year. He had the heart of a champion then and still does now.

Dave Ring
Manhattan Beach

Sam Darnold’s odyssey, from first-round bust to Super Bowl champion, is straight out of a Hollywood movie. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Darnold proved success in football, like life, is not always linear. He has now won more Super Bowls than his 2017 draft class colleagues, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, combined.

Mark S. Roth
Playa Vista

I just read Bill Shaikin’s excellent column contrasting the Dodgers’ option to visit the White House with Jackie Robinson’s legendary civil rights stands throughout his life.

As a lifetime Dodger fan who has tried to stay as apolitical as possible, I would be absolutely ashamed of my Dodgers if they were to attend this photo op. I was ashamed last year, too. But nowhere near as much as this year.

Please don’t go.

Eric Monson
Temecula

Just to let Dave Roberts know, there is something bigger than baseball. On the wall in my den are my father’s medals: a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star from when the United States sent my father, Marcelo Villanueva, and others like him, to fight Adolf Hitler.

When our freedoms are being taken away, it’s not OK if you go to the White House and visit the man who is taking them away. Which means my father fought for nothing. You should be ashamed of yourself. You don’t deserve to wear the same uniform Jackie Robinson did.

Ed Villanueva
Chino Hills

I agree with Bill Shaikin that for the world champion Dodgers to visit the fascist friendly White House would be an implicit contradiction of Jackie Robinson’s legacy. Most of the players probably don’t care, but you wish a manager like Dave Roberts (in L.A.!) were as smart and sensible as Steve Kerr. Apparently he is not.

Sean Mitchell
Dallas

I couldn’t disagree more with Bill Shaikin and his stance that the Dodgers should decline the opportunity to visit the White House. In a world of increasing stresses and dangers, sports is, or should be, a reprieve from the news reported on the front pages. After 9/11, for example, we celebrated the return of baseball as a valued respite from the tragedies we were dealing with. Allow baseball to continue to be this respite, Bill, and stop trying to drag sports into the fray.

Steve Kaye
Oro Valley, Ariz.

Bad look, Dave. It doesn’t help to invoke Jackie Robinson, then in the next breath, “I am (just) a baseball manager.”

Can’t have it both ways. Shaikin is right. Decline.

Joel Soffer
Long Beach

If Roberts feels he needs to go, he should. But the rest of the team should not. Dodger management should support them. Roberts conveniently thinks that going is not a political statement. It is. Roberts’ going supports Trump. The man who raised him and served this country did not do so to see it under the thumb of a corrupt man who attacks all that it has stood for. Today we are all politically identified by the choices we make. There’s no avoiding it.

Eric Nelson
Encinitas

Bill Shaikin nailed it when he talked about and quoted Jackie Robinson and compared him to Dave Roberts’ spineless decision to take the Dodgers to the White House. It’s “only” sports? A team of this renown, in a city terrorized by ICE, in a state directly harmed by Trump? Thank you, Mr. Shaikin, for calling Roberts out.

Ellen Butler
Long Beach

Thank you, Dave Roberts, for making the decision to go to the White House and celebrate our Dodgers’ victory in the World Series. It’s a thing called respect for the office of the president no matter what political party is involved. I don’t care about the L.A. Times sports writers’ politics, so keep your political opinions out of the Sports pages.

Lance Oedekerk
Upland

Following Bad Bunny’s landmark album of the year win at the 68th Grammy Awards for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Ricky Martin penned a letter of appreciation to commemorate the moment.

In an opinion piece for the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día published Tuesday, the Boricua hitmaker said Bad Bunny’s accomplishment stirred deep feelings within him.

“Benito, brother, seeing you win three Grammy Awards, one of them for album of the year, with a production entirely in Spanish, touched me deeply,” Martin wrote. “Not only as an artist, but as a Puerto Rican who has walked stages around the world carrying his language, his accent and his history.”

In addition to becoming the first all-Spanish album of the year winner, the “Nuevayol” artist took home the Grammy Awards for música urbana album and global music performance for the track “EoO” on Sunday.

Martin further called Bad Bunny’s achievement a “human” and “cultural” win, lauding him for not bending to the will of anyone who tried to change his sound in any way.

“You won without changing the color of your voice. You won without erasing your roots. You won by staying true to Puerto Rico,” Martin wrote. “You stayed true to your language, your rhythms and your authentic narrative.”

Martin, who first broke out as a solo musical act in the mid-’90s, became an international superstar off the back of his Spanish-language hits including 1995’s “María,” 1998’s “Vuelve” and “Perdido Sin Ti.”

He reached a new strata of stardom after his track “La Copa de Vida” was used as the official anthem for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. That song charted in over 60 countries and was translated into English. He landed his biggest hit with “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” which was the lead single from his 1999 self-titled English album.

When accepting his album of the year award Sunday night, Bad Bunny addressed the crowd predominantly in Spanish and spoke of the strugglesof the immigrant experience.

“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams,” he said in English.

“Puerto Rico, believe me when I say that we are so much bigger than 100 by 35 and there is nothing that exists that we can’t accomplish,” the “Dakiti” artist said in Spanish. “Thank God, thank you to the academy, thank you to all the people who have believed in me throughout my whole career. To all the people who worked on this album. Thank you, Mami, for giving birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you.”

The 54-year-old singer also showed love to Bad Bunny for using his platform to show solidarity for vulnerable communities.

“What touched me most about seeing you on the Grammys stage was the audience’s silence when you spoke,” Martin wrote. “When you defended the immigrant community, when you called out a system that persecutes and separates, you spoke from a place I know very well where fear and hope coexist, where millions live between languages, borders and deferred dreams.”

Martin concluded his letter by thanking Bad Bunny for reminding him and showing other Puerto Ricans that there is power in being true and authentic to yourself.

“This achievement is for a generation to whom you taught that their identity is non-negotiable and that success is not at odds with authenticity,” Martin wrote.

“This was for Puerto Ricans, for all our Latino brothers and sisters who dream in Spanish, for those crossing seas and borders wearing their cultures like a flag. From the heart, from one Boricua to another, with respect and love, I thank you for reminding us that when one of ours succeeds, we all succeed.”

Win-win might be overstating the outcome. But when the Dodgers emailed their roughly 55 tour guides Wednesday to say they were getting the pay raise they sought during a failed attempt to unionize, there must have been more smiles than frowns.

The Dodgers and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees reached an agreement in October, but ratification of the pact by the union failed by one vote. A second vote also narrowly failed. Then in January the tour guides voted to decertify the union, meaning the pay raise and increased stadium security on non-game days IATSE and the Dodgers had agreed upon were off the table.

Not for long. The Dodgers bumped up the guides’ pay from $17.87 to $24 an hour — the same increase they would have gotten under the scrapped union contract.

That’s hardly Kyle Tucker money: The Dodgers’ new right fielder signed a contract for $240 million over four years, an average annual value of $60 million. The Dodgers will pay the tour guides a grand total of about $650,000 in 2026 — $170,000 of that reflecting the raise of about $3,000 per person. Tucker will make 92 times the entire tour guide payroll annually.

Dodger Stadium tours have become increasingly popular — generating more than $1 million a year in revenue — because of recent stadium renovations, two consecutive World Series championships and the signings of Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

“The tour program has grown so much in the age of Ohtani,” said Ray Lokar, a veteran Dodgers tour guide whose full-time career was as a high school coach and athletic director for nearly 40 years. “The visibility and security responsibilities have been amplified. It’s grown from a mom‐and‐pop operation of a dozen people showing folks around the stadium to a multimillion-dollar asset.”

Tours now take place every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The burgeoning demand has caused breaches in stadium security, with guides flagging instances of tour participants entering the top deck with backpacks and even rolling suitcases going unchecked.

The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security. Some guides worried that the decertification would mean the team might continue to ignore their safety concerns. However, the letter to tour guides announcing the raise also addressed stadium security without offering specifics.

“I want you to know that we hear you, team, and we see you,” wrote Kayla Rodiger, Dodgers senior manager of tours. “Your concerns are valid, and I’ll be working closely with our front office colleagues to ensure we make a sincere and meaningful effort to address them.

“That being said, we are actively discussing security issues around the stadium, and I hope to have an update for you on your Top Deck concerns soon.”

Nicole Miller, president of IATSE Local B-192, led the union negotiations that fell short of a contract but likely nudged the Dodgers into addressing the pay and security issues on their own.

“Make no mistake, our IATSE Local B-192 bargaining team’s efforts were crucial in the tour guides obtaining a significant wage increase, and we hope they follow up on their promise to increase security,” Miller said.

The letter from Rodiger also said that the Dodgers’ longtime practice of offering tour guides comp tickets would continue. The perk of four reserve-level tickets for each of the 13 homestands in a season is worth $2,600 assuming the tickets are valued at $50 each. Miller said that in 2024 only three tour guides took all 52 tickets; on average, each guide took 32.

The Dodgers refused to mention free tickets in the union agreement because they said other part-time union employees would demand the same perk. Still, the uncertainty surrounding the tickets kept several guides from voting for union representation.

The contentious negotiations and near 50-50 split among the membership prompted veteran tour guide Cary Ginell to retire, sending a letter Jan. 23 to several of the Dodgers’ top executives.

“I’m writing to let you know that the tour program has become a dysfunctional battle between pro and anti-union factions with resentment and animosity on both sides,” wrote Ginell, a Grammy-nominated author of more than a dozen books on American music. “As an executive, you should be concerned about this, because it reflects on the entire Dodger organization.

“Above all, I wanted what was best for the tour guides, especially the younger ones who struggle to earn a living by working multiple jobs, but come to work afraid of who will be reporting on them and what threats might occur due to the absence of building security.”

Less than two weeks later, the Dodgers responded.

“Over the past two years, our department has thrived, earning recognition across the Dodgers organization, the league, and the City of Los Angeles,” Rodiger wrote to the tour guides. “Your ability to stay focused and uphold our standards to continue to give World Champion level tours has not gone unnoticed, and I promise you all that your contributions to this organization are not taken for granted.”

An exciting yet excruciating playoff loss to the Seahawks doesn’t diminish the Rams’ accomplishments this season. Their ability in coming back to win so many games that appeared lost showcased their resilience time after time, week after week. Thanks for the memories.

Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates

When are the Rams and coach Sean McVay going to stop ignoring special teams? Open the checkbook and hire the best special teams coach available. They also need to draft a shutdown corner or two. You don’t need another receiver.

Russell Hosaka
Torrance

Editor’s note: The team hired Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone as special teams coordinator.

So Bill Plaschke wants to put the blame on the Rams’ loss in the NFC title game solely on Sean McVay? The defense’s atrocious cornerbacks don’t deserve most of the blame? And Plaschke’s blood-boiling need to make the grand statement way before anything is certain doesn’t prove the Plaschke Curse is alive and well? He not only jinxed them once but twice. They lost to Seattle and lost control of the No. 1 seed immediately after the first prediction they’d go to the Super Bowl and then lost again to Seattle after the second. Will someone please take this guy’s laptop away from him until the Rams actually make the Super Bowl!?!?!

Danny Balber Jr.
Pasadena

Bill Plaschke in his column blames the decisions made by coach McVay, which have some merit, for the Rams losing in the NFC championship game. Of course, there is no mention of the prediction made by Plaschke the week before about the Rams winning quite confidently and going on to Super Bowl LX. The Rams and McVay never had a real chance being under the Plaschke curse.

Wayne Muramatsu
Cerritos

I can only hope that if I ever decide to enter a sporting competition, Bill Plaschke predicts I will not win it.

Andrew Sacks
Riverside

My dad used to tell me to only watch the end of NBA games, because they are always tied going into the last minute. The NFL is now very much like that, as evidenced by most of this season’s playoff games. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! While I’m bummed about the Rams’ finish, here’s to 2025-26, the best NFL season in recent memory.

Robert Gary
Westlake Village

Eva Longoria, John Leguizamo and Xochitl Gomez are among the 100-plus Latino actors, artists and creatives who have signed an open letter calling for accountability in Hollywood — citing longtime discrimination in casting and storytelling.

The public statement follows the controversy surrounding Odessa A’zion, who dropped her role as a Latina character in Sean Durkin’s “Deep Cuts,” following online backlash over the actor herself not being Latina.

“Recent casting decisions around the character Zoe Gutierrez in A24’s ‘Deep Cuts’ have exposed a troubling pattern,” the letter states. “We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the project and become an ally. Yet how did this happen?”

Earlier this week, the Wrap revealed that the “I Love L.A.” and “Marty Supreme” breakout star was cast as Zoe Gutierrez in the A24 film adaptation of Holly Brickley’s music-filled coming-of-age novel. The character’s identity plays an important role in the book, as she is written as a half-Mexican and half-Jewish lesbian.

Though the 25-year-old announced Wednesday night that she had dropped the role — admitting through her Instagram stories that she had not yet read the book, nor learned of all the character’s traits — the incident has unearthed questions about Latino representation in Hollywood.

“This isn’t about Odessa,” said Xochitl Gomez to The Times on Friday. “It’s about the executives, the producers and the whole system at the top. They thought it was OK to not even audition Latinas for the role in the first place. Latinas were pitched, including me, but we were told that there was an actress with an exclusive offer. This role never showed up on the casting grid because it was already gone.”

Xochitl Gomez attends “REBBECA” LA Premiere on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images for State of the Art)

(JC Olivera / Getty Images for State of the Art)

According to UCLA’s 2025 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinos were cast in only 1% of the leading roles in the top 104 English-language films released theatrically in 2024, despite constituting roughly 20% of the total U.S. population.

In TV, representation is just as stark. Latinos are cast in only 6% of all roles across the top U.S. broadcast series, as per a recent study by ¡Pa’lante! — a Latino representation initiative from the USC Norman Lear Center — which also found that 1 in 4 Latino characters are depicted as career criminals.

“The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture,” the letter continues. “This is not about any one actor or project. It is about a system that repeatedly overlooks qualified Latino talent even as our identities, histories, and experiences fuel the most enduring stories.”

The signatories request that Latino actors be hired for a diverse range of roles, including non-stereotypical leads. There is also a demand for more Latino executives to be involved in green-lighting projects and the inclusion of Latino consultants, writers and producers from the earliest stages of development. Finally, there is a call on Hollywood to create mentorship, scholarships and opportunities that expand access on all levels of the ecosystem.

This plea by marginalized creatives is not the first pushback — nor likely the last — against a stagnant Hollywood machine.

As early as the 1920s, the portrayal of Latinos was so negative that the Mexican government, and even Woodrow Wilson reportedly told Hollywood producers to “please be a little kinder to the Mexicans.”

In 1999, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for the boycott of broadcast networks’ 26 new fall series because they did not feature a non-white lead, sparking dialogue over the diversity of Hollywood at the time.

Comedian Chris Rock blasted the industry in a 2014 essay for its omission of Mexicans in Los Angeles, where nearly half of the population is Latino: “You’re in L.A., you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) — who in recent years has nominated several Latino-focused films to the Library of Congress National Film Registry — also penned a 2020 column in Variety, underscoring the dearth representation of Latinos in entertainment and the consequences of omission. “Prejudice has existed in the United States for generations, but the image of our community created by film and television has done little to counter bigoted views, and too often has amplified them.”

Another letter published in October 2020 with over 270 showrunners, creators, television and film writers signatures — including Lin-Manuel Miranda and “One Day at a Time” co-creator Gloria Calderón Kellett — called for systemic change in the industry. “We are tired,” they wrote.

The pushback continued in 2022, when actor Leguizamo penned an open letter in The Times about the history of Latino representation and the co-option of Latino stories — including that of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who was portrayed by a brownface Marlon Brando in the 1952 film “Viva Zapata!,” and Al Pacino, who played the fictional Cuban character Tony Montana in the 1983 film “Scarface.”

Wrote Leguizamo, “There’s a fix for this: Cast more Latinos!”

Read the full open letter below.

Dear Casting Directors, Creative Executives, Writers, Producers, and Hollywood Leaders,

We write to you with urgency, because storytelling is humanity’s compass and Hollywood wields all the power. The stories you choose to tell, and how you tell them, shape public perception, cultural understanding, and who gets to see themselves reflected on screen. In these challenging moments that power comes with real responsibility.

Recent casting decisions around the character Zoe Gutierrez in A 24’s Deep Cuts have exposed a troubling pattern. We acknowledge and commend Odessa A’zion for listening, reflecting and deciding to exit the project and become an ally. Yet how did this happen? The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture. This is not about any one actor or project. It is about a system that repeatedly overlooks qualified Latino talent even as our identities, histories, and experiences fuel the most enduring stories.

Latino communities are already underrepresented and misrepresented in ways that distort reality and harm real people. Casting decisions carry real weight: they influence who is seen as worthy of authentic storytelling and who gets to tell those stories with care, nuance, and authority.

We are calling for accountability, intentionality, and equity in casting and storytelling. Authentic representation means more than casting a performer who looks like the character; it means involving the communities being portrayed not just in front of the camera, but in the decisions that shape these stories from their inception. Our stories deserve to be shaped with the input, guidance, and leadership of Latino creators, consultants, writers, and performers at every stage.

We implore you to join us in concrete action:

• Audition and hire more Latino actors for a diverse range of roles, including non-stereotypical leads
• Hire Latino executives in your greenlighting rooms
• Include Latino voices as consultants, writers, and producers from the earliest stages of development
• Create and support pipelines: mentoring, scholarships, and opportunities that expand access all levels of the ecosystem

The world is watching.

Aaron Dominguez

Aitch Alberto

Alex Lora

Alma Martinez

Amanda Diaz

Ana Navarro Cardenas

Andrea Chignoli

Angel Manuel Soto

Angelique Cabral

Anna Terrazas

Annie Gonzalez

Antonio Negret

Becky G

Benjamin Odell

Brandon Guzman

Brandon Perea

Bricia Lopez

Camila Baquero

Carla Gutierrez

Carla Hool

Carlo Siliotto

Carlos Eric Lopez

Carlos Gutierrez

Carlos Lopez Estrada

Chrissie Fit

Christian Serratos

Cierra Ramirez

Cristina Rodlo

Cyria Fiallo

Daniella Pineda

Danny Ramirez

David Castenada

Desi Perkins

Diego Boneta

Edgar Ramirez

Edher Campos

Eiza Gonzalez

Elisa Capai

Elsa Collins

Emilie Lesclaux

Ennio Torresan

Enrique Melendez

Eva Longoria

Fabrizio Guido

Felipe Vargas

Fernando Garcia

Flavia Amon

Flavia De Sousa

Francia Raisa

Gabriela Maire

Gina Rodriguez

Gloria Calderon Kellett

Gregory Diaz IV

Ilda Santiago

Isabella Gomez

Isabela Merced

Isabella Ferria

Isis Mussenden

Ismael Cruz Cordova

Ivette Rodriguez

Jacob Scipio

Javier Munoz

Jazmin Aguilar

Jesse Garcia

Jessica Alba

Jesus Pimental-Melo

Jillian Mercado

John Leguizamo

Jose Velazquez

Juan Pa Zurita

Julio Macias

Justina Machado

Karrie Martin Lachney

Kate Del Castillo

Klaudia Reynicke

Kylie Cantrall

Leo Gonzalez

Lisette Olivera

Lorenza Munoz

Luca Castellani

Lucila Moctezuma

Lucy Barreto

Lynette Coll

Maia Reficco

Marcel Ruiz

Maria Legarda

Mariana Oliva

Mariem Perez Riera

Marvin Lemus

Mauro Mueller

Mayan Lopez

Melissa Barrera

Melissa Fumero

Melissa Martinez

Michael Cimino

Michael Pena

Miguel Mora

Mishel Prada

Monica Villarreal

Natalia Boneta

Natalie Chaidez

Natalie Morales

Nava Mau

Naz Perez

Nezza (Vanessa Hernandez)

Neysa Bove

Nicolas Celis

Nicole Betancur

Orlando Pineda

Patricia Cardosa

Patricia Riggen

Patty Rodriguez

Paulina Garcia

Petra Costa

Rafael Agustin

Rafael Cebrian

Ramon Rodriguez

Rene G. Boscio

Robin De Jesus

Rodrigo Teixeira

Rudy Mancuso

Ruy Garcia

Sierra Ornellas

Stephanie Beatriz

Tonatiuh Elizarrarz

Tony Revolori

Victoria Alonso

Xochitl Gomez

Xolo Mariduena

Yareli Arizmendri