The cast and crew of The Banker have broken their silence this week over the abuse allegations that prompted Apple TV+ to delay the film’s release.
According to Entertainment Weekly, director/screenwriter George Nolfi, Jackson, Mackie, and 50 other individuals across the production signed a joint statement “from the filmmakers” that addressed the situation.
The Banker stars Anthony Mackie, Samuel L. Jackson, Nia Long, and Nicholas Hoult. It’s a fact-based period drama about entrepreneurs who tried to circumvent the racial limitations of the 1950s as they turned their business savvy into social activism and decided to help African Americans get loans in Texas.On Nov. 20, Apple said was holding the show to investigate “recently uncovered and potentially damaging charges” surfaced by a family member of the late Bernard Garrett Sr, who the movie is based on.
“We set out to tell a story we were very passionate about, recounting the remarkable lives of Bernard Garrett Sr. and Joe Morris, and their ground-breaking achievements combating racial inequality in the 1950s and ’60s,” the statement reads. “Though we have no way of knowing what may have transpired between Mr. Garrett’s children in the 1970s, including the allegations of abuse we have recently been made aware of, our hearts go out to anyone who has suffered. The film itself is not based on the recollections of any of Bernard Garrett Sr.’s children, but rather, on recorded interviews with Bernard Garrett Sr. himself, conducted in 1995, supported by congressional transcripts, court rulings, and other media articles from the era. We stand by the film, and its positive message of empowerment.”
Actors Nicholas Hoult, Nia Long, Jessie T. Usher, and Colm Meaney; writers Stan Younger, Niceole Levy, and Brad Caleb Kane; cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen; costume designer Aieisha Li; and composer H. Scott Salinas were also among those who signed the statement.
