Will Smith Pulls ‘Emancipation’ Out of Georgia in Protest of New Restrictive Voting Laws

Will Smith Pulls ‘Emancipation’ Out of Georgia in Protest of New Restrictive Voting Laws.

Apple’s ‘Emancipation’ will no longer be filmed in Georgia.

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The decision to pull the film from the state is predicted to cost production around $15 million, as Georgia would have provided lucrative tax rebates.

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The film's star, Will Smith, and director Antoine Fuqua released a joint statement explaining their decision.

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They explained that they “cannot in good conscience” film in Georgia after its passing of “regressive voting laws.”.

We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access, Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua, via 'Complex'.

Smith and Fuqua went on to say that the new laws were reminiscent of Reconstruction era “voting impediments.”.

The new Georgia voting laws are reminiscent of voting impediments that were passed at the end of Reconstruction to prevent many Americans from voting.

Regrettably, we feel compelled to move our film production work from Georgia to another state, Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua, via 'Complex'.

It has not yet been confirmed where the film’s production will move to, although Louisiana is likely a strong contender.