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A new report published by the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has found that over 90% of the top 250 programmes on streaming services were made by white people last year, a decrease from 2024.
Cultural diversity has seen a significant decrease this year compared to 2024, a new study by UCLA has concluded.
As part of its Hollywood Diversity report, the university published that 91.7% of the top 250 most-viewed scripted shows last year were made by white people. In addition, 79% of all show creators were white men, and white actors were cast in 80% of all roles.
Each of these metrics is a slip down compared to 2024.
All other races and ethnicities were underrepresented, the report says. Only 49 of the 222 shows surveyed were made by women and the findings determined that opportunities for female actors and those of color had decreased overall.
Why are the numbers falling across the board?
In 2020, following the rise of Black Lives Matter, many companies went out of their way to champion diversity and boost programmes made by people of colour.
These initiatives, often labelled as ‘Diversity, Equality and Inclusion’ (DEI) programmes, were placed front and centre on big platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Since Trump re-entered office in the US, most have since been either significantly reduced or shut down entirely.
The current president’s administration has made a legal effort to punish diversity, and it’s meant that big brands like Disney, Amazon, Paramount and Warner Bros have abandoned their 2020 inclusion projects.
‘Unfortunately, this wasn’t unexpected, especially with the election results in 2024,’ wrote the executive vice-chanceller and provost at UCLA, Darnell Hunt.
‘When you shut the door on diversity, you shut out opportunities for more perspectives, collaboration, exploration and growth.’
