Spielberg Responds To 'In The Heights' Colorism, Promises 'West Side Story' Cast Is 'Chocolatized' In Post

LOS ANGELES, CA—Following the backlash against In the Heights’ lack of Afro-Latino actors, director Steven Spielberg reportedly ordered the editors of his upcoming West Side Story remake, to "black 'em up," his phrase for digitally darkening the cast's various skin tones.

“Steven began to worry that his film might also come under fire for its lack of dark-skinned actors, so he had our team re-edit the final cut with layers of brown applied to all the Latino characters,” said one editor.

“The days of putting dark makeup on white and light-skinned actors are thankfully behind us,” said a spokesperson from 20th Century Studios, adding that after the #oscarssowhite controversy a few years ago, Hollywood began looking for innovative ways to bring more diversity to film and television. 

Adobe Chocolatize, a new editing software, which uses A.I. to change an actor’s on-screen race, has been “a life-saver,” says one producer.

“Now, audiences of all backgrounds can see themselves represented in media thanks to advances in post-production technology. Someone like Rita Moreno, for example, can be made look like Cicely Tyson with a click of a mouse. Only a handful of studios are starting to use the program, but I imagine it will soon become an industry standard.”

An editing assistant added that when she suggested the alternative of making white characters look lighter to heighten the on-screen contrast, Mr. Spielberg was quoted as saying “that sounds problematic.”