Universal Pictures has issued a formal apology to actor and transgender activist Laverne Cox after using male voice actors to dub over her voice in international versions of Promising Young Woman.
Earlier this week, The Guardian noted "a deep male voice (Roberto Pedicini) overdubbing Cox" in the Italian version of the Oscar-winning revenge film.
Many in the LGBTQ+ community were outraged. Italian trans actor Vittoria Schisano called the move "insulting."
"I’d feel bullied if I were [Cox]," they told The Guardian.
Today, Universal Pictures promised to correct the error in judgment.
"We are deeply grateful to Laverne and the transgender community for opening our eyes to a bias that neither we nor many in our industry had recognized," Universal said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. "While there was no malicious intent behind this mistake, we are working diligently to fix it. We have begun re-dubbing Ms. Cox's voice with female actors in our international territories and are pushing back release dates to ensure the correct version is available. We are sorry for the pain caused but are thankful that we can address the situation on this film and prevent similar mistakes from happening again on future projects."
Cox has yet to respond to the controversy.
