Photo: Spokesman
Best-selling author James Patterson, who has an estimated net worth of $800 million, revealed how hard it is for white men to land a job in publishing and Hollywood.
The novelist told The Times that white male writers undergo “another form of racism,” ranting the predicament of older white men.
“What’s that all about?” Patterson said. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”
The remarks came following the publication’s observation that the white author’s initial success happened partially because of the character of a Black detective, Alex Cross, in his crime series. Morgan Freeman played the detective in two movie adaptations, Kiss the Girls (1997), and Along Came a Spider (2001).
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“I just wanted to create a character who happened to be Black,” Patterson stated. “I would not have tried to write a serious saga about a Black family. It’s different in a detective story because plot is important.”
According to the author, he is “almost always on the side of free speech,” stressing that he was shocked when workers at Little, Brown and Company – his publisher, made a walkout stunt in 2020 to rail for the publication of Woody Allen’s memoir.
Dylan Farrow, Allen’s adoptive daughter, has alleged him of child sexual abuse, which the writer repulsed.
“I hate that,” Patterson stated of the Little, Brown outcry. “He has the right to tell his own story.”
In March, Patterson published a recent novel called Run, Rose, Run. Dolly Parton co-authored it. The thriller ranked No. 1 on the New York Times’ best-seller roster at its release that month and will later be adapted into a movie starring Parton, who also stands as the film’s producer. The 20th Victim by Patterson is the most recent addition to his Women’s Murder Club series with Maxine Paetro – it also reached the Times’ best-seller after its 2020 debut.
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