Meryl Streep Defends All-White Jury for Film Festival by Saying "We're All Africans"

Wait, what?

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In a scratching-your-head, what-is-happening kind of way, Meryl Streep went on record to address concerns that the Berlin International Film Festival jury lacked diversity, as all the members are white. Streep, who is serving as this year's jury president, told reporters that "we're all Africans, really." 

"There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture," she continued, "and after all we're all from Africa originally. Berliners, we're all Africans really." She went on to say that she is committed to including members of  "all genders, races, ethnicities, religions" in the jury.

"This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that's an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions," she said. "So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game."

We'll just leave this here:

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Samantha Leal is the Deputy Editor at Well+Good, where she spends most of her day thinking of new ideas across platforms, bringing on new writers, overseeing the day-to-day of the website, and working with the awesome team to produce the best stories and packages. Before W+G, she was the Senior Web Editor for Marie Claire and the Deputy Editor for Latina.com, with bylines all over the internet. Graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a minor in African history, she’s written everything from travel guides to political op-eds to wine explainers (currently enrolled in the WSET program) to celebrity profiles. Find her online pretty much everywhere @samanthajoleal.