Lin-Manuel Miranda responds to criticism that his musical about Alexander Hamilton glorifies slave owners
Lin-Manuel Miranda took to social media Monday to respond to critics calling for Hamilton to be canceled for its glorification of slave owners.
The 40-year-old playwright responded on Twitter in a thread debating critiques of the musical that debuted Friday on the Disney+ streaming service.
Tracy Clayton tweeted that Hamilton the play the debuted in Broadway in 2015 and the movie version ‘were given to us in two different worlds & our willingness to interrogate things in this way feels like a clear sign of change’.
Online response: Lin-Manuel Miranda, shown in February in Beverly Hills, California took to social media Monday to respond to critics calling for Hamilton to be canceled for its glorification of slave owners
The host of the weekly Netflix podcast Strong Black Legends also posted that Hamilton is a ‘flawed play’ while additionally noting that it gave her ‘flawed and imperfect little life a big boost when i needed it most’.
Miranda took the criticism in stride.
‘Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. All the criticisms are valid. The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. Or wrestled with but cut. I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Did my best. It’s all fair game,’ he tweeted..
Hamilton was a US Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury who also promoted the abolition of the international slave trade in New York City.
American statesman: Alexander Hamilton shown in a portrait circa 1790 was a Founding Father of the United States and the first Secretary of the Treasury
Fair game: Miranda tweeted that ‘All the criticism are valid’ and said it was ‘all fair game’
The musical and film version portray Hamilton as a ‘young, scrappy, and hungry’ immigrant and someone who was passionate about the abolition of slavery.
The production in light of recent Black Lives Matter protests has come under increased scrutiny with some pointing out that Hamilton was a slave trader.
The Founding Father married into a prominent New York slave-holding family, and managed the sale of slaves for his in-laws. He also did accounting for a Caribbean trading company that engaged in the slave trade.
Hit play: Phillipa Soo is shown as Eliza Hamilton and Miranda as Alexander Hamilton in a still from the filmed version of the Broadway production of Hamilton that debuted Friday on Disney+
It does not appear, however, that Hamilton ever directly owned any slaves himself.
The Hamilton musical, which won 11 Tony Awards for its Broadway run and has grossed $1 billion worldwide, cast many non-white actors in roles as historical white figures.
The production mostly glossed over the issue of slavery, making few references about the profits that some Founding Fathers made from it.
Political benefactor: George Washington, played by Chris Jackson, is shown with Miranda
The true story behind the Hamilton show saw the hashtag ‘CancelHamilton’ grow on Twitter.
‘How is Hamilton not canceled? Alexander Hamilton owned and traded slaves. I think we need to cancel Hamilton,’ wrote one Twitter user.
‘Hamilton was a slave trader. Tear down the statues NOW and #CancelHamilton,’ added another.
There were other such calls though some were tongue-in-cheek responses to the emergence of ‘cancel culture’ on social media.
Slave owner: Daveed Diggs is shown portraying Thomas Jefferson, who owned more than 600 slaves, in a still from Hamilton on Disney+