Will Smith Pulls ‘Emancipation’<br />Out of Georgia in Protest of New<br />Restrictive Voting Laws.<br />Apple’s ‘Emancipation’ will no<br />longer be filmed in Georgia. .<br />The decision to pull the film from the state<br />is predicted to cost production around $15 million,<br />as Georgia would have provided lucrative tax rebates. .<br />The film's star, Will Smith, and director Antoine Fuqua<br />released a joint statement explaining their decision. .<br />They explained that they<br />“cannot in good conscience”<br />film in Georgia after its passing<br />of “regressive voting laws.”.<br />We cannot in good conscience provide<br />economic support to a government that<br />enacts regressive voting laws that are<br />designed to restrict voter access, Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua, via 'Complex'.<br />Smith and Fuqua went on to say that the new laws were<br />reminiscent of Reconstruction era “voting impediments.”.<br />The new Georgia voting laws are<br />reminiscent of voting impediments that<br />were passed at the end of Reconstruction<br />to prevent many Americans from voting.<br />Regrettably, we feel compelled to<br />move our film production work from<br />Georgia to another state, Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua, via 'Complex'.<br />It has not yet been confirmed where the film’s production<br />will move to, although Louisiana is likely a strong contender.
