is it just me, or did the beginning of this article posted on Tudum (Netflix’s official companion site) just prove Bridgerton fans right about Simone Ashley’s unfair treatment?
I don’t know, maybe I’m being hypersensitive here but it feels pointed that the article says *“just Anthony Bridgerton”* after naming every lead from the three central couples… except Simone Ashley. Especially since we so rarely see a dark-skinned Indian woman as a romantic lead, it’s hard not to notice when she’s left out.
Fans have long pointed out that Simone has been sidelined in Bridgerton’s marketing, promotion, and even storylines compared to her white co-stars. And while yes, the article is technically about Anthony Bridgerton, three of the five “most memorable moments” they list actually include Kate/Simone Ashley. So why open the piece in a way that erases her entirely?
Also, racism in the Bridgerton fandom has been rampant since the show started
Season 2 was the best season by far, and a large cause of that was Simone Ashley. Yes Jonathan Bailey is a heartthrob, but he needed her to bounce off of! Nobody remembered him in season 1. She’s arguably had a much bigger role than Rege Jean Page too and he’s always brought up more than her.
PrincessCG on
Simone deserves better and she gives an amazing performance alongside Jonathan. I hate that they pushed them out of the way considering both actors would be happy to return.
No_Scarcity4145 on
The writer having a degree in Women Studies makes it worse
mytwopence1 on
This is so sad, she was amazing in season 2 alongside Jonathan. It’s the combination of them both that made it so good! She’s been so classy in interviews about her bridgerton experience despite it all. Kudos to her
palomatoma on
they’re so weird……
cakeit-tilyoumakeit on
I will never understand why they’re treating Simone like that. She seems extremely professional and like a positive personality to be around. She’s a great actress and she gave a great performance on Bridgerton. I don’t get it.
The only female lead of color we’ve had so far and this is what they do? They’re so transparent it hurts.
SapnoKiRaani on
They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore!
PinkPositive45 on
“Yes, just Anthony Bridgerton.” That’s really gross and honestly reads as intentionally unkind to Simone. It’s giving middle school girl posting a photo where one member of her friend group is intentionally left out, and captioning it as: “With my REAL FRIENDS!”
Organic-Mad-1 on
It’s crazy because Anthony/Kate chemistry was off the charts…at “best” they just wanted to lust over Jonathan Bailey cause he’s IT boy of the hour but considering they track record with sidelining Simone Ashley, it feels really intentional
ossifiedbird on
“just Anthony Bridgerton” as if his sex scenes were carried out entirely solo and he had incredible chemistry with his own reflection 🙄
deethy on
This is why The Gilded Age >>>>
chaoticbiguy on
It’s Shondaland, who’s surprised 🙄. Any *actress* who dares to make a career outside of their little show, Shonda Rhimes takes it personally and then does everything in her power to bury the actress. She has ego issues with male actors too (like the article put out by Shondaland shortly after the success of Wicked about how people need to thank them for Jonathan Bailey, completely disregarding his career prior to Bridgerton or her feud with Patrick Dempsey and [how horribly she treated TR Knight after the F-slur controversy)](https://www.reddit.com/r/okbuddycinephile/s/rhifMPe9qc) , but she’s **particularly brutal** to actresses, ask Katherine Heigl. And now Simone Ashley is going through something ~~similar~~ worse, considering she’s an Indian dark skinned actress who’s not as established as Heigl was when her downfall began.
And then Netflix is obviously scummy so obviously, you got this type of blatantly disrespectful and racist article.
rzenni on
I’m not up on my Bridgerton lore, why are they so mad at Simone Ashley? Did she kick the producer’s dog or something?
forkicksforgood on
What the hell. The Simone Ashley erasure is wildly offensive.
The people who wrote, then edited, then published the article need to be fired ASAP.
Simone Ashley deserves better from this industry. I don’t understand why she continuously gets this sort of treatment, it’s ridiculous.
SeveralIce4263 on
Wait isn’t this the same show created by Shonda, a Black woman? I don’t get it
Broad-Code on
Wait what’s the lore behind this? What happened between Netflix and Simone?
Chaoticgood790 on
the fact that they treat Simone like this when she was in the best pairing outside of QC is WILD. Truly garbage behavior
armadillo1296 on
This is so fucked, Simone Ashley has also gotten a lot of colorist criticism from Bollywood fans and Indian cultural commentators because of her skin tone (she has much darker skin than the average Bollywood actress)
SeaF04mGr33n on
That’s WILD. Omg.
hypnosssis on
So she was edited out of the Formula 1 movie (after doing all promo no less) and snubbed in Bridgerton? Is there something problematic about Simone that I’m not aware of? I lived her in Sex education and was rooting for her
26 Comments
I don’t know, maybe I’m being hypersensitive here but it feels pointed that the article says *“just Anthony Bridgerton”* after naming every lead from the three central couples… except Simone Ashley. Especially since we so rarely see a dark-skinned Indian woman as a romantic lead, it’s hard not to notice when she’s left out.
Fans have long pointed out that Simone has been sidelined in Bridgerton’s marketing, promotion, and even storylines compared to her white co-stars. And while yes, the article is technically about Anthony Bridgerton, three of the five “most memorable moments” they list actually include Kate/Simone Ashley. So why open the piece in a way that erases her entirely?
Also, racism in the Bridgerton fandom has been rampant since the show started
https://preview.redd.it/bnrlhonogylf1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6e5acdc4250d5c2cf30120ccefe23f076991dab7
Wasn’t she supposedly difficult to work with? I swear I have seen like 3-4 posts or comments in the tea discussion threads about that
The “Yes, *just* Anthony Bridgerton” is crazy after after naming every lead even the ones who aren’t part of the cast, lmaooooo.
https://preview.redd.it/qyb2uwf0nylf1.jpeg?width=918&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29d8088894ca5e8eac4ab796c5da62b7e9822c6f
Season 2 was the best season by far, and a large cause of that was Simone Ashley. Yes Jonathan Bailey is a heartthrob, but he needed her to bounce off of! Nobody remembered him in season 1. She’s arguably had a much bigger role than Rege Jean Page too and he’s always brought up more than her.
Simone deserves better and she gives an amazing performance alongside Jonathan. I hate that they pushed them out of the way considering both actors would be happy to return.
The writer having a degree in Women Studies makes it worse
This is so sad, she was amazing in season 2 alongside Jonathan. It’s the combination of them both that made it so good! She’s been so classy in interviews about her bridgerton experience despite it all. Kudos to her
they’re so weird……
I will never understand why they’re treating Simone like that. She seems extremely professional and like a positive personality to be around. She’s a great actress and she gave a great performance on Bridgerton. I don’t get it.
“Just Anthony Bridgerton” is CRAZY.
https://preview.redd.it/fkz0jwz7pylf1.jpeg?width=1072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d4a373e49abcc19c7e574fd44edb3ed6d0cfea3
The only female lead of color we’ve had so far and this is what they do? They’re so transparent it hurts.
They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore!
“Yes, just Anthony Bridgerton.” That’s really gross and honestly reads as intentionally unkind to Simone. It’s giving middle school girl posting a photo where one member of her friend group is intentionally left out, and captioning it as: “With my REAL FRIENDS!”
It’s crazy because Anthony/Kate chemistry was off the charts…at “best” they just wanted to lust over Jonathan Bailey cause he’s IT boy of the hour but considering they track record with sidelining Simone Ashley, it feels really intentional
“just Anthony Bridgerton” as if his sex scenes were carried out entirely solo and he had incredible chemistry with his own reflection 🙄
This is why The Gilded Age >>>>
It’s Shondaland, who’s surprised 🙄. Any *actress* who dares to make a career outside of their little show, Shonda Rhimes takes it personally and then does everything in her power to bury the actress. She has ego issues with male actors too (like the article put out by Shondaland shortly after the success of Wicked about how people need to thank them for Jonathan Bailey, completely disregarding his career prior to Bridgerton or her feud with Patrick Dempsey and [how horribly she treated TR Knight after the F-slur controversy)](https://www.reddit.com/r/okbuddycinephile/s/rhifMPe9qc) , but she’s **particularly brutal** to actresses, ask Katherine Heigl. And now Simone Ashley is going through something ~~similar~~ worse, considering she’s an Indian dark skinned actress who’s not as established as Heigl was when her downfall began.
And then Netflix is obviously scummy so obviously, you got this type of blatantly disrespectful and racist article.
I’m not up on my Bridgerton lore, why are they so mad at Simone Ashley? Did she kick the producer’s dog or something?
What the hell. The Simone Ashley erasure is wildly offensive.
The people who wrote, then edited, then published the article need to be fired ASAP.
https://i.redd.it/1q583qdksylf1.gif
Simone Ashley deserves better from this industry. I don’t understand why she continuously gets this sort of treatment, it’s ridiculous.
Wait isn’t this the same show created by Shonda, a Black woman? I don’t get it
Wait what’s the lore behind this? What happened between Netflix and Simone?
the fact that they treat Simone like this when she was in the best pairing outside of QC is WILD. Truly garbage behavior
This is so fucked, Simone Ashley has also gotten a lot of colorist criticism from Bollywood fans and Indian cultural commentators because of her skin tone (she has much darker skin than the average Bollywood actress)
That’s WILD. Omg.
So she was edited out of the Formula 1 movie (after doing all promo no less) and snubbed in Bridgerton? Is there something problematic about Simone that I’m not aware of? I lived her in Sex education and was rooting for her