Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has apologized to Vanessa Morgan for Riverdale‘s lack of diversity after the actress called out the show for its treatment of black characters.
“We hear Vanessa. We love Vanessa. She’s right,” the Riverdale creator, 41, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, June 4. “We’re sorry and we make the same promise to you that we did to her. We will do better to honor her and the character she plays. As well as all of our actors and characters of color.”
He added, “Change is happening and will continue to happen. Riverdale will get bigger, not smaller. Riverdale will be part of the movement, not outside it.”
Aguirre-Sacasa signed off his post saying that the Riverdale writers had made donations to the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter and vowed to better represent people of color.
“We know where the work must happen for us. In the writers’ room,” the Washington, D.C., native wrote.
Aguirre-Sacasa’s apology comes days after Morgan, 28, criticized the stereotypical way that black characters are written in TV and movies.
“Tired of how black people are portrayed in Media, tired of us being portrayed as thugs, dangerous or angry scary people,” the Canada native tweeted on May 31. “Tired of us also being used as sidekick non-dimensional characters to our white leads. Or only used in the ads for diversity but not actually in the show.”
Morgan later confirmed that she was including her Riverdale character, Toni Topaz, in her critique.
“Lmao too bad I’m the only black series regular but also paid the least 😂👏🏽 girl i could go on for days 🐸,” Morgan tweeted on Tuesday, June 2, adding that Toni is “used as the token biracial bisexual” on the CW series.
The Finding Carter star has portrayed the Southside Serpent member since season 2, where Toni made a guest appearance as a love interest for Jughead (Cole Sprouse). Morgan was promoted to a series regular in season 3 and eventually became the girlfriend of Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch).
Earlier this week, Morgan defended her former Riverdale costar Ashleigh Murray when a user called her a “diva” in a since-deleted tweet. The 32-year-old, who portrayed Josie, departed the show for Riverdale‘s spinoff series, Katy Keene — another TV project from showrunner Aguirre-Sacasa.
“You don’t know what the f–k your talking about and don’t talk about my friend like that,” Morgan tweeted on Sunday, June 1. “Another thing i hate BLACK women being called DIVAS for sticking up for themselves. Maybe the show should write for her like the white characters. You picked the wrong day get off my page.”
