Keith Wann, a comedian and performance artist, claimed that his skin color was the reason he was fired from the Broadway production of The Lion King. Keith was one of two people asked to leave the production after the Theater Development Fund announced that white interpreters would not be permitted to play black roles in ASL Broadway musicals.
Wann filed a discrimination lawsuit against Lisa Carling, the director of accessibility initiatives, on November 8. The New York Post obtained the complaint and emails in which Carling ordered Wann and interpreter Christina Mosleh to stop performing so that they could be replaced by black sign language practitioners. In response to the situation, he told the publication:
“Seeing that prejudice, it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m white or black.” This is self-evident, and I hope that more people who have had similar experiences will come forward.”
Keith Wann was asked to work on the play in March of this year. Carling sent him and another translator an email asking them to leave the program, which surprised him. As stated in the email:
“With great shame and regret, I respectfully request that you both withdraw from translating the concert for us on Sunday, April 24.” There is no other way out of this situation. It appears to be the best choice.”
Carling made the decision to remove Wann after The Lion King’s ASL director, Shelly Guy, begged her to do so. In April 2022, Guy informed Carling that the majority of the characters in the play were played by black actors and that the story was set in Africa. Guy believes that, while Wann is a fantastic actor, he is not black and thus should not play the Lion King.
Keith Wann was fired the next day, despite having earned $1,000 for his efforts. He ceased responding to Carling’s emails and phone calls while weighing his options before deciding to take the case to Manhattan Federal Court. Mosleh has yet to respond, and the Theatre Development Fund, Carling, Guy, and Disney Theatrical Productions have all declined to comment.
Keith Wann has a long history with ASL
Keith Wann was born on January 4, 1969, to deaf parents. He made his debut with the ASL Improve Group in 2002, and his solo career began in 2004. He gained notoriety after uploading an ASL video spoof of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby to YouTube.
Keith Wann is an ASL performer who has appeared in a number of short films. He has also appeared in Pepsi advertisements and television shows such as Law & Order and Quantico. He currently works for Sign It! American Sign Language Made Simple as a writer and performer. Wann even travels to the United States every weekend to perform solo and on the ASL comedy tour.
He also gives seminars and advocates for ASL. Wann and his wife Emilia joined LegalShield as independent associates and are currently traveling across the country to give the ASL community easy access to the legal system. Wann also gives seminars, and some ASL students have used his monthly ASL song club to learn sign language in a fun way.
He has appeared in a number of Broadway productions, including School of Rock, Noises Off, West Side Story, Shrek: The Musical, and Little Shop of Horrors. Keith Wann collaborated with Sia on her Soon We’ll Be Found song video, and as an ASL artist, he has created several solo performances in addition to hosting the ASL Comedy Tour for a decade.
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