Denzel Washington railed against the state of the media in general, accusing outlets of peddling “BS” to the masses.
Washington, 61, had been the subject of an online hoax that falsely claimed he supported Donald Trump. A representative told the BBC that “the story is 100 percent complete fabrication.” Washington didn’t formally endorse a candidate for president.
But instead of fueling the “fake news” narrative that is being pushed out by a number of legacy media outlets, Washington went after them.
“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed,” Washington told The Hill on Tuesday. He was speaking to a group of reporters interviewing him on the red carpet of National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Washington highlighted the overly competitive nature of breaking a story amid “too much information.” It’s “the need to be first—not even to be true anymore,” he elaborated.
“So what a responsibility you all have—to tell the truth,” Washington, the star of upcoming film “Fences,” the actor told reporters.
“In our society, now it’s just first—who cares, get it out there. We don’t care who it hurts. We don’t care who we destroy. We don’t care if it’s true,” Washington added.
“Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice you'll get good at—including BS.”
“Fences,” set for release on Christmas, is a movie about a black family living in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.
