Anya Taylor-Joy wrongly called ‘woman of colour’ after Golden Globes win

(Getty Images for IMDb)

Anya Taylor-Joy was incorrectly described as a woman of colour after her Golden Globes win despite identifying as a white Latina - prompting industry magazine Variety to issue a correction.

Taylor-Joy was born in Miami, Florida, to a Scottish-Argentine father. On Sunday, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture for TV for her work in The Queen’s Gambit.

Variety reported the news in an article that initially referred to Taylor-Joy as a person of colour.

The article was met with some criticism on social media, as it did not reflect the fact that Taylor-Joy has identified as a white Latina. Part of it originally read: “Argentinian Taylor-Joy is the first woman of color to win this category since Queen Latifah in 2008 and only the fifth woman of color to win overall since 1982, when the category was introduced. S Epatha Merkerson, Halle Berry and Alfre Woodard were the other previous winners.”

Writer Valerie Complex was among those who brought the issue to light, writing on Twitter: “I love her as an actress but This article has her listed as the FIRST WOMAN OF COLOR to win in this category and I legit give up.”

Variety has since updated the story to better reflect Taylor-Joy’s ancestry. A notice on the website reads: “UPDATED: This story has been updated. A previous version identified Anya Taylor-Joy as a person of color. She has said she identifies as a white Latina.”

I love her as an actress but This article has her listed as the FIRST WOMAN OF COLOR to win in this category and I legit give up https://t.co/1mv7lzbggd

— Valerie Complex (@ValerieComplex) March 1, 2021

Friendly reminder that being Latina and being a woman of color are not always the same thing. Congrats to Anya Taylor-Joy (Argentina) for her Golden Globe win and for speaking up pic.twitter.com/98akPrhmzv

— Indigenism (@Indixenism) March 2, 2021

For those who are confused as to why Anya Taylor-Joy is not a POC (and wondering what “white Latina” means):

In the US, we tend to treat Latinx and/or Hispanic as a race, but it’s not.

— Aliza “revolution, after this nap” Pearl (she/her) (@AlizaPearl) March 1, 2021

Taylor-Joy lived for some time in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a child, and recorded a video in Spanish for Netflix’s Con Todo account in November 2020.

She told Vulture in a 2018 interview she’s “very wary” of auditioning for Latina characters. “I’m aware of the fact I don’t look like a typical Latin person, and that’s not fair,” she told the publication. “I don’t want to be someone that you can just sub in for that role when I’m really white and blonde.”