Second City CEO Steps Down and Vows to Have Member of the BIPOC Community Replace Him
By: Stephi Wild Jun. 09, 2020
CEO and co-owner of The Second City, Andrew Alexander, has announced that he is stepping down amidst accusations of racism against the theatre.
Alexander posted a letter on the company's website, stating that "The next person to fill the Executive Producer position will be a member of the BIPOC community. That's a commitment I'm proud to make."
"As an administrator, I have not always had good instincts," Alexander admits in the letter. "While diversifying the theater artistically, I failed to create an anti-racist environment wherein artists of color might thrive. "
He goes on to say, "I am so deeply and inexpressibly sorry."
Read Alexander's full statement here.
Alexander's announcement comes after Second City alum Dewayne Perkins said that the company refused to hold a benefit show for Black Lives Matter unless half of the proceeds went to the Chicago Police Department. He also detailed multiple situations in which members of the theater engaged in racist behavior.
Read Perkins' tweets below:
Remember when you sent a bunch of your black actors to speech therapy because you said white people didn't understand us? Remember when you told me to my face I wasn't getting hired for main stage because I wasn't "nice" enough and kept speaking out?
- Dewayne Perkins (@DewaynePerkins) June 4, 2020
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