The backlash continues against what is now generally viewed as a blatant attempt by Georgia’s GOP leadership to rollback voting rights to breath live into Donald Trump’s “big lie” of election fraud in the November 2020 presidential election and in reprisal of Democrats winning the state’s senate seats. Movie star Will Smith and film director Antoine Fuqua are pulling out out a film they were to shoot in Georgia and taking it elsewhere. They have done so over Georgia’s voting rights restrictions. Jake Coyle had this report in the Associated Press. Here is an excerpt:

Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua have pulled production of their runaway slave drama “Emancipation” from Georgia over the state’s recently enacted law restricting voting access.

The film is the largest and most high profile Hollywood production to depart the state since Georgia’s Republican-controlled state Legislature passed a law that introduced stiffer voter identification requirements for absentee balloting, limited drop boxes and gave the State Election Board new powers to intervene in county election offices and to remove and replace local election officials. Opponents have said the law is designed to reduce the impact of minority voters.

In a joint statement, Smith and Fuqua — who are both producers on the project — said they felt compelled to move the production out of Georgia.

Read the full story here. Also, in case you missed it, read Steve Schneider’s article on the Matt Gaetz controversy.