Wendell Pierce Sounds Off After 'White Apartment Owner Denied My Application' in Harlem Despite Offer to Pay One Year's Rent

Wendell Pierce says his application for an apartment in New York City was turned down due to racism.

The seasoned actor and alum of The Wire took to X to share some thoughts about the situation.

"Even with my proof of employment, bank statements, and real estate holdings, a white apartment owner denied my application to rent the apartment…..in Harlem, of all places. Racism and bigots are real," the Jack Ryan star wrote. "There are those who will do anything to destroy life’s journey for Black folks. When you deny our personal experiences, you are as vile and despicable.”

Pierce—a Tony award winner—also briefly summarized his recent work in the same tweet, writing that he is currently acting in two TV series, Elsbeth and Raising Kanan, and is filming the new Superman movie. The fourth season of Jack Ryan just ended, and last year, Pierce appeared in Death of a Salesman on Broadway.

Pierce spoke about the situation with CNN’s Abby Phillip, sharing that he was looking for an apartment for his relative, who is a recent graduate of Howard University.

“I was backing him up,” Pierce said. “I gave them all of my bank statements…and I was denied, and I realized that they used the technicality of saying because I did not have steady, consistent employment. ... Most actors work three months here, three months there."

He was still denied even after proposing to pay a year’s worth of rent in advance.

"I realized the application was designed that way, to be discriminatory," Pierce told Phillip. "I wanted to show the damaging effects of when bigotry is memorialized in law."

Pierce has been outspoken about the Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm's grant designed for Black women business owners. A U.S. federal court of appeals suspended the Fearless Fund in a ruling last week which the Associated Press called "another victory for conservative groups waging a sprawling legal battle against corporate diversity programs that have targeted dozens of companies and government institutions."

At the end of his CNN segment, Pierce implored, "We have to make sure that people understand that this insidious, racist decision is a Pandora's box that will open up more opportunities to memorialize discriminatory law."

See more of Wendell Pierce's thoughts on the unfortunate, foreboding decision about the Fearless Fund below.

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