Ariana Grande, Zooey Deschanel, and Idina Menzel, along with nearly 200 other musicians, actors, comedians, authors, academics, media personalities, activists, and more have signed an open letter denouncing the recent ban of books in U.S. school libraries.
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Spearheaded by Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton and published by the public advocacy organization MoveOn Political Action on Tuesday (September 19), the open letter’s other signees include director Guillermo del Toro, Sharon Stone, Gabrielle Union, Padma Lakshmi, Billy Porter, Roxane Gay, Sandra Cisneros, Amanda Gorman, Margaret Cho, Ava Max, Natasha Lyonne, Judd Apatow, Mark Ruffalo, Ron Perlman and more.
In the open letter, the signatories stress being “horrified by the threat of censorship in the form of book bans,” and that the bans will not end with books.
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“We cannot stress enough how these censorious efforts will not end with book bans,” reads the letter. “It’s only a matter of time before regressive, suppressive ideologues will shift their focus toward other forms of art and entertainment, to further their attacks and efforts to scapegoat marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks.”
The letter continues, “We refuse to remain silent as one creative field is subjected to oppressive bans. As artists, we must band together, because a threat to one form of art is a threat to us all.”
Burton’s letter is in response to the collection of books that have been banned in schools by local and state governments in recent years, with many specifically linked to marginalized people. Predominantly moved by Republican-led governments and conservative groups, a number of the banned books are specifically linked to race or LGBTQ+ issues.
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A 2022 poll by the American Library Association found that more than 70 percent of parents oppose book banning. Banned books hit an all-time high in the past several years with more than 4,000 instances of bans, according to Pen America, since 2021. During the first half of the 2022-23 school season, there have been 1,477 instances of individual banned books, according to the Pen America Index of School Book Bans, which has affected 874 unique titles.
“It’s embarrassing that we are banning books in this country, in this culture, in this day and age. And it’s dangerous that a handful of individuals are deciding that any book with Black and queer people is divisive,” said Burton, who executive produced the 2023 documentary The Right to Read. “We are calling on everyone to join us in raising their voices to uphold artistic freedom, embrace multicultural history, and put a stop once and for all to book bans.”
Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for dcp
