Wendell Pierce Says His Housing Application Was Denied Due to Race: “Bigots Are Real”

Wendell Pierce

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Wendell Pierce took to social media on Monday to share that his application for a New York City apartment had been denied, which he alleged was due to his race.

“Even with my proof of employment, bank statements and real estate holdings, a white apartment owner DENIED my application to rent the apartment…..in Harlem, of all places,” Pierce wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Racism and bigots are real. There are those who will do anything to destroy life’s journey for Black folks. When you deny our personal experiences, you are as vile and despicable.”

Pierce wrote in the same tweet that he currently stars in two television series, Elsbeth and Raising Kanan, and that he is currently filming Superman. He also noted that he finished the fourth season of Jack Ryan two years ago and finished a Broadway run of Death of a Salesman last year. Despite providing evidence of all these jobs, his application was still denied.

The next day, Pierce shared a link to a Wall Street Journal story regarding an appeals court that blocked Atlanta-based investment firm Fearless Fund from running a grant program for Black women.

“While I appreciate the response to my own personal experience of discrimination in housing, I only mentioned it as an example of the insidious nature of bigotry,” Pierce wrote. “This court decision is profoundly more disturbing and injurious. CALL TO ACTION.”

Prior to sharing the article, Pierce also published an X thread about the appeals court decision, writing that “the effort being made to deny Black folks from participating in ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is abhorrent. A private business deal blocked by the courts. What happened to less government intervention in our lives.”

In the same thread, he added, “It makes me sick motherfucker how far you will go to destroy our ability to live our lives in peace and prosperity. Attacked in schools, attacked by police, attacked for expecting to live the stated values of this country, and attacked when successful in business. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. For generations we have embraced that lie as the violence against our community proves otherwise. It’s getting harder to stay in denial. America.”

Across Monday and Tuesday, the actor shared several more threads related to the appeals court and systemic racism in America, eventually sharing the same WSJ article again and writing, “This is an act of institutionalized racism by the courts not seen in years. A stealth act of bigotry in the shadows.”