Ellen Page’s Late Show appearance Thursday night turned emotional as the actress addressed the racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett that occurred in Chicago earlier this week. Page condemned not only the attack, but also a government that she said has at least tacitly encouraged this violence. In her nine minutes sitting across from Stephen Colbert, Page spoke passionately on a number of issues including climate change, which the actress said the media is not covering sufficiently. Additionally, Page called the media cowardly—“saying it’s a debate whether or not what just happened to Jussie Smollett is a hate crime.” In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Smollett was attacked by two white men who were reportedly wearing ski masks, and who put a noose around his neck while using anti-gay and racist slurs. At one point, the men reportedly screamed, “This is MAGA country!” Chicago police have said they’re treating the attack as a possible hate crime. “It’s absurd,” Page said. “This shit isn’t a debate.” “Sorry,” she added. “I’m really fired up tonight. But it feels impossible not to feel this way right now, with the president and the vice president, Mike Pence, who wishes I couldn’t be married. . . . He wanted to ban [gay marriage] in Indiana. He believes in conversion therapy. He has hurt L.G.B.T.Q. people so badly as the [governor] of Indiana.” At that point, Page turned her attention back to Smollett, who has received an outpouring of support from Hollywood as well as some politicians since his attack. Page said that she doesn’t know Smollett personally, but that she sends all her love. Page then launched into an urgent speech directed squarely at Washington. “Connect the dots,” Page said. “This is what happens. If you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them—you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering—what do you think is gonna happen? Kids are gonna be abused, and they’re gonna kill themselves.” Page’s voice began to break as she continued: “And people are gonna be beaten on the street. I have traveled the world, and I have met the most marginalized people you could be. I am lucky to have this time and the privilege to say this: this needs to fucking stop.” More Great Stories from Vanity Fair — Our critic on why movies are still magic — Alan Alda just wants to have a good conversation — Former Trump Zelig Hope Hicks begins her second act on the West Coast — See an exclusive preview of Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film — Your passport to Vanity Fair’s 25th Hollywood Issue with Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Chadwick Boseman, and more Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.<doc-sep>Last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Ellen Page's publicity tour for her upcoming Netflix show The Umbrella Academy took a turn for the political. After touching on climate change, Page moved on to an impassioned speech about LGBT discrimination. In the three-minute run, she uses this week's attack against Empire star Jussie Smollett as a point of reference. (The bulk of Page's speech begins at 6:54.) This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. According to Smollett's statement, the attack occurred early Tuesday morning in Chicago when two men allegedly poured bleach on him, wrapped a rope around his neck, and said, "This is MAGA country." After touching on what happened to Smollett this week, Page blasted Vice President Mike Pence's track record with the LGBT community—specifically his anti-LGBT measures he made during his tenure as Governor of Indiana. She then pointed out the flaws in the media's LGBT reporting and how it encouraged a debate over the veracity of Smollett's claims, saying, "This shit isn't a debate." It's a lot to digest in three minutes, but once it's said and done, there's only one thing to say: she's right. Page, who came out in 2014, explained that attacks like that on Smollett aren't random. It's a symptom of a hateful nation. The hatred that queer people face is exhausting—you can see the fatigue on Page's face as she speaks in the Late Show clip. Meanwhile, the president stayed quiet regarding Smollett's attack until Thursday, when he broke his silence to say, "I've seen it—last night. I think that's horrible. It doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned." (He then used Smollett's attack to transition into his typical anti-immigration talking points.) There was no mention of the attackers' alleged use of his campaign slogan or homophobic and racist language. Just that it—the ambiguously convenient "it"—is horrible. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The point is clear, though. Ellen Page knows it. I know it. And you know it. The runaround from the White House is more proof that these attacks aren't worthy of reprimanding. Skepticism surrounding Smollett's statement reinforces the lack of respect we give victims and people of color. But more than the responses, the attack on Smollett did double-duty. It serves as a reminder to both people of color and the LGBT community that our current America isn't for them. Pence's history and Trump's irreverence for marginalized communities sends a message that his base wants to hear: the American Dream is for white, heterosexual men. And make no mistake, as Page points out earlier in her speech; the fact that Smollett is a black gay man matters. If being a queer person in Trump's America is damning, then being a queer person of color in Trump's America is more icing on the hate-filled cake. If being a queer person in Trump's America is damning, then being a queer person of color in Trump's America is more icing on the hate-filled cake. What makes Page's speech and this week's news cycle so incredibly exhausting is that this week's act of violence doesn't come from a marginalized person attempting to oppress someone else. It's the result of a black gay man's attempt to exist in America. And say, for the sake of the conversation, Smollett's claim isn't true and Trump had denounced the attack as the hate crime it is; the only ramification would be that the leader of one of the world's most powerful countries used his platform to denounce violence against black and LGBT people. But that message isn't on the agenda. Any statement from Trump or Pence or the White House denouncing hate crimes would go against a well-established precedent: Those in power are entitled to abuse people who don't look or live the same way they do at their discretion. If you're white and straight and cisgender and male, and you feel uncomfortable with this analysis, welcome. That nauseous feeling you may have is one that a lot of Americans carry with them every day. The further a person gets from the above description, the more the truth rings clear to them: This is absolutely MAGA country. The power to change that fact has never belonged to people of color or queer people. It belongs to the people who best fit the description above, no matter your political party. And if you're not recognizing that power, your silence speaks just as loudly that which comes from the executive office. Justin Kirkland Justin Kirkland is a writer for Esquire, where he focuses on entertainment, television, and pop culture. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>Image : Getty Thursday night, while promoting her upcoming Netflix series the Umbrella Academy, Ellen Page paid the Late Show with Stephen Colbert a visit. The conversation never really got to the new show—instead, around the two- minute mark, Colbert brought up the first time he interviewed her, five years ago, not long after she came out. The conversation shifted to the topic of Hollywood’s inclusion of LGBTQ actors (or lack thereof) and without missing a beat, Page responded : “There’s clear evidence that [Hollywood] has changed, that there’s some progress. There’s some more representation but I honestly think we need to hurry up. It’s not cutting it. Hollywood, and the film industry in particular, is just so binary and it is so, I find, narrow in its ideas of who can tell stories and who can be in the stories. I hope it continues to change.” Advertisement She then turned her attention to “the media that is saying it’ s a debate whether what happened to Jussie Smollett ”— the out Empire actor who was violently attacked Tuesday morning in Chicago— “was a hate crime, ” before discussing the beliefs of Mike Pence, and the immediate, clear through- line between homophobic rhetoric and violence: “I’m really fired up tonight but it feels impossible not to feel this way right now with the President and the Vice President Mike Pence, who wishes I couldn’t be married, let’s just be clear. The Vice President of America wishes I didn’t have the love [I have] with my wife. He wanted to ban that in Indiana. He believes in conversion therapy. He has hurt LGBTQ people so badly as the governor of Indiana. I think the thing we need to know—and I hope my show Gaycation did this, in terms of connecting the dots between what happened with Jussie, I don’t know him personally, I send him all of my love—[is how to] connect the dots. This is what happens. If you are in a position of power and you hate people and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering. What do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re going to kill themselves. People are going to be beaten on the street. I have traveled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you could meet. I’m lucky to have this time and this privilege to say this. This needs to fucking stop.” Watch the conversation below.<doc-sep>Ellen Page had an urgent message about the dangers of hate for viewers at home during a late night appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The Umbrella Academy actress pulled no punches when it came to calling out the Trump administration in an impassioned speech, where she told Colbert that she was “really fired up.” During her interview with Colbert, Page sounded off on environmental racism and how climate change disproportionately affects communities of color the most. “This is something that’s happening, and it’s happening to the most marginalized people, and we need to be talking about it,” she said. “It’s really serious.” She later addressed therise homophobia and rise in hate crimes, including the recent attack on actor Jussie Smollett, who said he was assaulted by two masked men who put a rope around his neck and shouted homophobic and racist insults at him. “The urgency is so severe, and yet we have a media that’s barely talking about it,” Page said. “We have a media that’s saying it’s a debate whether or not what just happened to Jussie Smollett is a hate crime. It’s absurd! This sh-t isn’t a debate.” Page then pointed to the anti-LGBTQ+A policies of Donald Trump and Mike Pence and others in position of power for their role in hateful acts such as this. “This is what happens,” she said. “If you are in a position of power, and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering — what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and they’re going to kill themselves. People are going to be beaten on the street.” Watch Page’s full comments below. Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com.<doc-sep>
“Sorry,” said Ellen Page sheepishly, seven minutes into her Thursday-night appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. “I’m, like, really fired up tonight.” After apologizing, she proceeded to give an impassioned speech on the looming dangers of climate change, how the Trump/Pence administration has helped give rise to more hate crimes, and the complacent media that enables it all. Page was ostensibly on the show to promote her new Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, but within minutes, she had turned the conversation to the problem of environmental racism and how climate change disproportionately affects people of color. “This is something that’s happening, and it’s happening to the most marginalized people, and we need to be talking about it,” she said. “It’s really serious.” “Talking about it,” Page said, should not include debates about whether climate change is a real thing. “The urgency is so severe, and yet we have a media that’s barely talking about it,” she said. “We have a media that’s saying it’s a debate whether or not what just happened to Jussie Smollett is a hate crime. It’s absurd! This shit isn’t a debate.” From there, she connected the dots between what happened to Smollett — who, according to police, was beaten by men shouting racist and homophobic slurs who wrapped a rope around his neck — and the anti-LGBTQ policies of both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. “This is what happens,” she said. “If you are in a position of power, and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering — what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused, and they’re going to kill themselves. People are going to be beaten on the street.” There’s data to back up Page’s claims. A study last year by Loyola University Chicago School of Law professor Stephen Rushin and University of Alabama at Birmingham economics professor Griffin Sims Edwards found that Trump’s rise to power was associated with “a statistically significant surge in reported hate crimes across the United States,” even after they controlled their data for other possible explanations. “It was not just Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric throughout the political campaign that caused hate crimes to increase,” they argue. Instead, “it was Trump’s subsequent election as President of the United States that validated this rhetoric in the eyes of perpetrators and fueled the hate crime surge.” “I have traveled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you could meet,” Page concluded on The Late Show. “I am lucky to have this time and the privilege to say this. This needs to fucking stop.” You can watch the full clip above.