Lately, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, and Julia Roberts have been on a joint press tour to promote their upcoming psychological thriller, After the Hunt.
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Set for an Oct. 10 release, the film follows a teacher (Julia) who finds herself embroiled in a sexual assault scandal involving her colleague (Andrew) and a star student (Ayo). Inspired by the reckoning sparked by the #MeToo movement, the film has prompted the cast to answer questions about #MeToo, race dynamics, and more.
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Recently, they sat down for an interview to talk more about After the Hunt, but things took an awkward turn when the reporter left Ayo out of a question.
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In clips currently dominating my personal timeline, the reporter asks about what was supposedly “lost during the politically correct era.” Seemingly directing the question to Andrew and Julia, the reporter asked, “What [do] we have to expect in Hollywood after the MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter are done?”
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Ayo, who was sitting beside them, looked perplexed.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as Andrew shifted uncomfortably in his seat to face Julia and Ayo. “Um, can you repeat that?” Julia asked, stunned. “I can’t tell which of us you’re talking to.” When the interviewer clarified that the question was indeed meant for her and Andrew, Ayo let out an awkward laugh, frowning and tilting her head in confusion.
@ayoedebiristyle / Via Twitter: @ayoedebiristyle
“Well, sorry,” Ayo said, interrupting. “I know that that’s not for me — and I don’t know if it’s purposeful if it’s about me — but I just am curious. I don’t think it’s done,” she continued, as Julia stressed, “It’s not done.”
“I don’t think it’s done at all,” Ayo continued. “I think maybe hashtags might not be used as much, but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people every day that’s beautiful, important work that’s not finished, that’s really, really, really active for a reason ’cause this world is really charged, and that work isn’t finished at all.”
She speculated that the difference now is the level of media attention being given to the movements. “Maybe if there’s not mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been, daily headlines in the way it might have been eight or so years ago, but I don’t think that means that the work is done.”
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Chiming in, Andrew agreed that the movements are still “absolutely alive.” Like Ayo, he believes they’re just not as “covered” or “magnified as much in this present moment.”
@PopCrave / Via Twitter: @PopCrave
People had a LOT to say about the exchange online, with many expressing complete disbelief at the reporter for excluding Ayo from the question but praising the perfect and “skillful” way she handled it.
One X user said, “This interviewer was on straight bs for excluding her but Ayo’s answer was so thoughtful and eloquent.”
@EdEddNReady / Via Twitter: @EdEddNReady
Another pointed out how she answered the question anyway, even though it wasn’t directed at her: “oh they pissed her straight off.”
@edebiriii / Via Twitter: @edebiriii
A third viewer added, “sorry including andrew garfield and not ayo edebiri who is both BLACK and a WOMAN in a question about MeToo and Black Lives Matter is actual insanity.”
@pinkv3nus / Via Twitter: @pinkv3nus
Some, like these two accounts, suggested that Ayo actually saved Julia and Andrew from having to answer the nightmare of a question.
@LucaGuadagnegro / Via Twitter: @LucaGuadagnegro
@EdEddNReady / Via Twitter: @EdEddNReady
“The way he shifted his entire body to face Julia and Ayo and let them answer the question tells me he knows he’s got no place to answer a question like that lol,” one Reddit user wrote. “Also, Ayo knew. She couldn’t wait to jump in when she saw she was being purposefully excluded. She still had so much grace in the face of that but didn’t allow her voice to be silenced. Love her.”
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“ayo’s truly better than me because wtf was that question,” someone else shared as another person noted, “Jesus look how hard she’s working to make sure she can speak up for herself and others without seeming difficult. That must be fucking exhausting.”
Ernesto Ruscio / Getty Images
In the same breath, people praised the way that Julia and Andrew supported Ayo once she spoke up. One person wrote, “The way Andrew spun around to face Ayo, and the way Julia called that woman out for wearing her sunglasses…I love that disgusted, united front. And I’m exhausted for Ayo. Bless her because I’m to the point that I may not have been as gracious she was in that moment. Exhausted.”
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You can view more reactions to the moment below:
@anisupremacy / Via Twitter: @anisupremacy
@kennysroys / Via Twitter: @kennysroys
BuzzFeed has reached out to the reporter for comment — we’ll update this post if we hear back.
UPDATE: The reporter issued a statement on Instagram in which she denied that she’s racist in response to “personal insults and attacks” she’s received over the interview. You can read the full statement below.
Sep. 08, 2025, at 04:30 AM
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