Laverne Cox
On Tuesday (Jan. 5), playwright and actress Sarah Jones announced that she was moving forward with a documentary titled
Sell/Buy/Date that would examine the sex industry, much like her critically acclaimed one-woman show of the same name.
For the feature project, which will mark the Tony Award-winning creator’s directorial debut, Jones revealed that she had enlisted longtime supporter Meryl Streep, Rashida Jones and Laverne Cox as executive producers along with the Ford Foundation, SFFILM Invest and the Harnisch Foundation.
The documentary, per the release, will tackle themes of inequality (criminal justice, race, sexism, poverty) through the lens of the debate around the sex industry. The documentary asks the question, Is sex work exploitative or empowering? The sex industry is hiding everywhere in plain sight during the pandemic, and impacting Black and brown women in particular. That said, many people support sex work, and some even argue those in the comme
However, after significant backlash from sex workers and allies, Cox announced yesterday (January 7) that she would be stepping down from the project. “When I agreed to come on as an executive producer of
Sell/Buy/Date, I did so because I was so deeply moved by Sarah Jones’ brilliant play and her unbelievable, undeniable talent as an artist,” Cox said in a statement. “But I am not in an emotional place to deal with the outrage by some around my participation in this project, so I have decided to pull out.”
Sell/Buy/Date started as a one-woman show, which, according to Jones, asked: “What does empowerment look like in a time where we want to be sexual beings, where we get to decide what is powerful?” The show is set in the future, and is told from the perspective of a sociology professor giving a lecture about the evolution of the sex industry throughout the 21st century. In the play, Jones portrays 19 different characters, including a ‘sex work studies’ student,
Laverne Cox Drops Out of Controversial Rashida Jones-Produced Sex Worker Doc exclaim.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from exclaim.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.