Ayo Edebiri Addresses Viral Venice Interview Exclusion

Ayo Edebiri addressed a now-viral exchange from the Venice Film Festival in which an Italian journalist appeared to exclude her while asking Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield whether the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements were "done." At the New York Film Festival premiere of Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt on Sept. 26, Edebiri said she’s "less online," hadn’t paid much attention to the reaction, joked "I love to lie! I make money lying!," and called the moment "very human," while also disputing that the movements are over. She and others said the awkward exchange echoes the film’s themes about difficult conversations, accountability and reexamining one’s past. After the Hunt, directed by Guadagnino and starring Roberts, Garfield and Edebiri, follows a Yale professor forced to confront her life after a student’s accusation and has generated controversy ahead of its October release. Screenwriter Nora Garrett said the screenplay grew from Julia Roberts’s character and explores internal struggle, shame and the pursuit of power.