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Vanessa Morgan is speaking up about her time on Riverdale. The actress, who plays Toni Topaz on the CW series, opened up about her experience on the show as a black woman in a series of tweets, criticizing the show for its representation of black characters, Deadline reports.
Morgan began her message May 31 with a general expression of frustration about how black characters are shown in the entertainment industry. “Tired of how black people are portrayed in Media, tired of us being portrayed as thugs, dangerous or angry scary people,” she wrote. “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.”
Toni, Morgan’s Riverdale character, is a former member of the Southside Serpents who leaves to form the Pretty Poisons with Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch), who becomes her love interest. She is currently the only black regular cast member on the series after Ashleigh Murray left at the end of Season 3.
Morgan directly addressed her role on Riverdale today when a fan tweeted, “imagine they’re getting so much more bang for their buck bc ur part of an lgbt storyline too, double the diversity – DOUBLE UR PAYCHECK IMO.”
“Lmao too bad I’m the only black series regular but also paid the least girl i could go on for days,” Morgan wrote in reply, adding that she was “used as the token biracial bisexual.”
Morgan later tweeted in support of her Riverdale castmates, saying they were not responsible for her portrayal on the show. “My role on Riverdale has nothing to do with my fellow castmates/friends,” she tweeted. “They don’t write the show. So no need to attack them, they don’t call the shots & I know they have my back.”
Lili Reinhart, who plays Betty Cooper in the series, voiced support for her costar. “We love you, V,” she replied. “And support you 10000%.”
Decider has reached out to The CW for comment.
